FORMER Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s grandson, NV Subhash, on Wednesday termed Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoirs a “pack of lies” and alleged that it contained historical blunders concerning the Gandhi family’s tenure in power, including during the time of the Emergency. Subhash, also the chief spokesperson for the BJP’s Telangana unit, accused Gandhi of deliberately ignoring the contributions made by Rao to the Congress party and the nation and said he was “not surprised” by the omission. “As a member of late P V Narasimha Rao’s family, it was no big surprise for us that he was not mentioned in the book. She (Gandhi) will definitely and deliberately want to avoid the contributions made by him for the Congress party and the nation,” he claimed while speaking to PTI Videos here. Subhash said that it was a “habitual practice” of the Gandhi family to overlook and “belittle” its own leaders in order to highlight members of the Gandhi family.

 

He further said that on going through the book, “we see a lot of disparity and contradictions.” Citing an example of one such contradiction, Subhash said, “On the one hand, she says she was not interested in her husband, late former PM Rajiv Gandhi, entering into politics and on the other, she promotes her children into mainstream politics and in the future, her grandchildren also. So this is the hypocrisy.” He also accused Gandhi of shedding “crocodile tears” over the Babri Masjid demolition issue. Subhash said that her claims of breaking down over the Babri Masjid demolition incident indicate that she is “distancing herself from the Hindus” and trying to “appease” certain sections of society. “The BJP wonders what kind of hypocrisy is this, as there has been a 400-year-long struggle and also legal battles for the Babri Masjid and ultimately, the Supreme Court gave a verdict after which only the Ram temple was constructed there,” he said.

 

‘Bundle of lies’: Sirsa on 1984 riots in memoir DELHI Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of attempting to whitewash her family’s image through her newly released memoir, claiming that it misrepresented the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and omitted the names of Congress leaders accused in the violence. Calling the book a “bundle of lies” and not a “journey of love” but a “journey of hate”, Sirsa said Gandhi wrote about the sufferings of her family but failed to acknowledge the plight of the Sikh families who lost their loved ones in the violence post the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. “The Sikh community does not want sympathy. It wants truth, accountability and justice. Writing a book does not rewrite history,” Sirsa said. Think about country: Anna Hazare hits back VETERAN social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday hit back at senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s claims that the former’s ‘India against Corruption’ movement had “covert support from the BJP and RSS”, saying that Gandhi should instead think about the country’s welfare. Speaking to reporters, Anna Hazare said: “Several people from the RSS and BJP also went home because of my movement. I do not think about any political party. For me, only society and the country matter. It is not right to have such a narrow outlook. Think about the country, the direction it is heading in and the condition of our nation and not about such petty things.”

 

CONGRESS leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said late party veteran Pranab Mukherjee was interested in becoming the Prime Minister of the country as he felt he was senior enough for the top post. Mukherjee, who served as India’s President from 2012 to 2017, was a senior Congress leader and held several key ministerial portfolios at the Centre, including finance, external affairs and defence, during his political career. Talking to PTI, Chavan said he was not aware whether Mukherjee had conveyed his desire to then Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but maintained that the veteran leader was interested in the top post as he felt he was senior enough. In her memoir “Belonging: A Journey of Love”, Sonia Gandhi has said Mukherjee shocked her by suggesting that it was time for a change at the top, which she understood as a hint of his long-held desire to become PM. Reacting to Gandhi’s remarks in her memoir, Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha has said that perhaps Sonia Gandhi was “shocked” as she thought that anyone outside Gandhi-Nehru family could not even dare to nurture such an ambition.