BJP desperate to rewrite history, appropriate Netaji's legacy: Cong

Accusing the BJP-led Centre of making a "conspiratorial attempt" to appropriate the legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi Sunday said the saffron party was "desperate to rewrite history".

In a veiled attack on the Nehru-Gandhi clan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday alleged that the contribution of several great leaders such as Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar and Bose to the country's freedom struggle was "deliberately" forgotten to glorify "one family".

He also said it was high time more Indians got to know about the historic role these stalwarts had played.

Donning the famous Azad Hind Fauj cap, the prime minister hoisted the national flag at the Red Fort and unveiled a plaque to mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the Azad Hind government by Bose.

At a press conference, Singhvi said the Congress had always endeavoured to protect, preserve and propagate the ideals of Bose, the brave patriot and secularist.

"Those who do not have their own ideas and idol and had zero contribution in the national movement of freedom struggle are trying to appropriate the legacy of our freedom fighters, in an attempt to be perceived as nationalists. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi desperately tried to do the same.

"A desperate BJP is trying to rewrite history and create an imagined rivalry between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and between Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Nehru. It has used auspicious occasions for these cheap political tricks," he said.

Singhvi pointed out that Bose and Patel were completely against the "philosophy of sectarianism and bigotry that is espoused by Prime Minister Modi's ideological patriarch -- the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha".

He said Patel, in a letter to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, had stated that the "activities of the Hindu Mahasabha were a clear threat to the existence of the government and the activities had not died down, despite the ban".

Singhvi also pointed out that Nehru was one of the lawyers for Bose during his Indian National Army (INA) trials.

"Was there any person from the RSS to support Netaji?," he asked, adding, "The prime minister and the BJP are desperately trying to appropriate every national legacy."