NEW DELHI: Rani Laxmi Bai must be flummoxed about how her name has been regularly bandied, used and abused by politicians. The weapons have changed though.
The war is not through shining swords but sarcasm-dipped words centuries after she died, the latest war erupted between Jyotiraditya Scindia saying Congress only had one ideology which is that of a traitor. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh hit back sighting his forefathers’ history of war with Rani of Jhansi and the alleged betrayal by Scindias.
The war of words reached a new low on Thursday with both tutoring each other on history. Scindia attacked Gandhi on Wednesday saying that “Congress has been now left with only one ideology which is of a traitor, an ideology which works against the country”.
Scindia’s comments, invited a sharp response from Congress, with Jairam targeting Scindia and Ghulam Nabi Azad, saying both have been huge beneficiaries of the Grand Old Party and its leadership. “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.
Ramesh in a tweet, also asked Scindia if he had forgotten Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s poem on Rani of Jhansi. The poem also referred to the Scindia family, the rulers of Gwalior, as friends of the British.
“Has he forgotten Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s immortal poem on the Rani of Jhansi?” Ramesh tweeted. “Scindia, the friend of the British, had left his capital; we heard the story from the mouths of the Bundela warriors; she fought gallantly, she was the queen of Jhansi,” said the tweet in Hindi.
Scindia retorted with a series of tweets and asked Ramesh to ‘read history more than poetry’. To buttress his argument, 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.”
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