Jairam Ramesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia trade barbs over role of Scindias in 1857

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday engaged in a war of words over the historical role of the Scindias in 1857 and took swipes at each other over their politics and ideology.

It all started with Scindia’s scathing criticism of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress at a BJP press conference on Wednesday.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit back at Scindia and former party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad on Twitter, saying both have been huge beneficiaries of the Congress system and its leadership.

इतिहास की कोई किताब उठा लीजिये। 1857 में रानी झांसी के साथ गद्दारी के मुद्दे पर सभी इतिहासकार एकमत हैं। आपके नये भगवान सावरकर ने भी अपनी किताब '1857 का स्वातंत्र समर' में रानी लक्ष्मीबाई, तात्या टोपे और अन्य लोगों के साथ सिंधिया की गद्दारी का जिक्र किया है। इतिहास आप पढ़िये https://t.co/kbgI0XPp54

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 6, 2023

”With every passing day, they give powerful evidence that this generosity to them was undeserved. They reveal their true character which they kept hidden for so long,” he said, slamming Scindia and Azad.

Hitting out at Ramesh, Scindia said such statements clearly show how much dignity and ideology is left in the Congress.

”You are devoted to yourself anyway; your politics is alive on this. Me and my family have always been answerable to the public,” the Union civil aviation minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

Reacting to Scindia’s traitor barb at the Congress, Ramesh in a tweet asked has he forgotten Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s immortal poem on the Rani of Jhansi.

In the poem, the Scindias are referred to as the friends of the British.

Hitting back at Ramesh, Scindia said, ”Read history more rather than poetry”.

Scindia also posted excerpts from Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Glimpses of World History’ — ”Thus they (Marathas) had practically inherited the Delhi Empire. The Marathas remained to challenge British supremacy. But the Maratha power went to pieces after the death of Mahadji Scindia.” ”The Marathas defeated the British in the South in 1782. In the north, Scindia of Gwalior was dominant and controlled the poor hapless Emperor of Delhi,” another excerpt cited by Scindia read.

Tagging his tweets, Ramesh said, pick up any history book and all historians are unanimous on the issue of betrayal with Rani Jhansi in 1857.

”Your new God Savarkar has also mentioned Scindia’s betrayal of Rani Laxmibai, Tatya Tope and others in his book,” he said, asking Scindia to ”read history”.

Ramesh also tagged a tweet which showed an old video of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in which he had said that the Scindias had helped the British and betrayed Rani Laxmibai.

”’Mama ji ghalti se sach bol gaye (Mamaji spoke the truth by mistake)’,” Ramesh said referring to Chouhan, who is often called ‘Mama ji’ in Madhya Pradesh.

Slamming Ramesh, Scindia said, ”Ever read the book ‘Operation Red Lotus’ written by Parag Tope, a descendant of the brave martyr Tatya Tope of 1857; It will be known how we Marathas – Scindia, Peshwa and Newalkar of Jhansi were together against the British. Marathas are still one. Please stop this ‘divisive’ politics.” On Wednesday, Scindia had attacked the Congress for according Rahul Gandhi ”special treatment” following his conviction in a defamation case and accused the party of pressuring the judiciary and doing everything possible to stay relevant.

Slamming Scindia for his remarks, Congress’ media department head Pawan Khera said, ”When Mr. Scindia talks about doing things to stay politically relevant, I can think of his own example. To stay politically relevant he changed his party, he changed his friends, he changed his loyalties and he is giving us a lecture on how to stay politically relevant.” He had hit back at Scindia for his scathing criticism of Rahul Gandhi and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ”beware” of a man who did not stay loyal to his former party and will also ”not be loyal” to him.

Scindia was incidentally in the Congress for a long time and considered a close associate of Gandhi. He quit the party and joined the BJP in 2020 following differences with its leadership, especially in his home state Madhya Pradesh, leading to the fall of the Kamal Nath-led government.

Source: Press Trust of India