Cong, BJP slug it out over Netaji kin snooping row

The Congress on Friday lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for allegedly trying to malign historical figures such as former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru by alleging that the Nehru government had put Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s family under surveillance for over two decades.

The Congress alleged that the BJP was indulging in a "sinister propaganda of selective leaks and half-truths". In this exercise, the BJP spoiling the reputation of leaders such as Vallabhbhai Patel, C Rajagopalachari, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had handled the home portfolio during Nehru's tenure.

With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its BJP political affiliate adopting Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, the Congress slammed the saffron brigade for usurping its icons and trying to rewrite history. The government has grand plans to celebrate Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.      

It has been alleged that between 1948 and 1968, the family of Netaji's family was spied upon by Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Hitting out at the government, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The prime minister and home minister must explain as to why only notings on two declassified files have been released, while withholding the correspondence portion of the files. Does the correspondence portion contain some inconvenient truth that the Prime Minister's Office has chosen to withhold?"

Successive Congress governments have refused to declassify files, despite repeated pleas by Netaji's kin.   

Singhvi asserted that the prime minister and the home minister must come clean on the entire issue, as the PMO has still kept 58 related files as classified and the home ministry has kept 29 such files as classified; total of 87 files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that are still classified.

"We also demand that all such documents should be declassified so that complete truth is placed in public domain", Singhvi stated.

Senior BJP leaders launched an onslaught on the Congress over the issue. Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "If you look into the history and geography of the Congress, you will find it black. If we dig deeper, a lot of things will come up."

Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, "Subhas Chandra Bose was a darling of the masses and this news that he and his family were spied on during those early years of independence is shocking and very, very serious. It needs to be investigated."