BHOPAL: Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha and ex-Madhya Pradesh minister Gopal Bhargava made a controversial remark on Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone’s silent solidarity with JNU students in Delhi on Tuesday.
“A heroine should stay in Mumbai and dance, what was the need for her to go to JNU. Dozens of such people have emerged who are called activists and artists, but actually play politics at places meant only for studying. Varsity campuses should be meant for studies only and not for politics,” said Bhargava.
Reacting to Bhargava’s remarks, the MP Congress leader Narendra Saluja questioned, “Does the LoP hold similar thoughts about actresses-turned-BJP politicians Hema Malini, Kirron Kher and Smriti Irani, particularly when previous BJP government in MP had spent lakhs of rupees on dance performances by Hema Malini and her daughter at various events in the state in the past.”
Three days after former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘Hindu Jinnah,’ former union minister Uma Bharti on Thursday dubbed former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as Rahul Jinnah and Priyanka Jinnah.
Addressing a program in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna district, the ex-MP CM talked about the country’s partition. “Similar rumours which are being spread to create fear among Muslims now had led to the partition of the country in the past. But who gained from the country’s partition, the same problems still confront the two countries. It was people like Jinnah who furthered their political interests through the country’s partition. Now Jinnah is no more, but there are people like Rahul Jinnah and Priyanka Jinnah who are vitiating the country’s atmosphere and creating unfounded fear among Muslims, by misleading them through baseless statements like you will be kept at detention centres,” said Bharti.
Bharti also took a dig at the Congress president Sonia Gandhi for rumour-mongering over CAA-NRC. “Did we ever ask her (Sonia Gandhi) that we’ve read in history books about her father being part of Mussolini’s dictatorial Army. We never asked her that has the same dictatorial mentality been transferred to her also. I’ve always respected Soniaji as the daughter-in-law of our former PM as well as the wife of our elder brother. When we never questioned her (Sonia Gandhi) on issues in history books, why is she and her party people unnecessarily creating fear among Muslims of our country.”
Later, when questioned by journalists about her Rahul and Priyanka Jinnah remarks, Bharti stood firm on her remarks and added, “Even the Congress leaders call our PM Narendra Modi as Ravana and Neech, so what’s the problem in making such remarks. I’ll keep addressing them as Jinnah till they don’t change their tone on CAA and stop misleading the Muslims on it.”
She further said, “Just like Congress people have read in books unsavoury things about Savarkar, we too have read about Sonia Gandhi in history books only.”
Earlier on Monday, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi India's "Hindu Jinnah", former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had accused him of following the "two-nation theory" of the Pakistan founder to divide the nation on the basis of religion.