‘BJP rewriting history by adopting leaders’

New Delhi: The Congress said on Tuesday that the BJP was “adopting” leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as its own participation in the freedom struggle was absent and accused the party of rewriting history.

The opposition party’s criticism came on a day the government marked Patel’s birth anniversary with fanfare.  Asked about the BJP’s charge that Patel was not given Bharat Ratna till a non-Congress government came to power,

The Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said, “This business of trying to adopt Congress leaders is a clear indication and admission by the BJP that their participation in the freedom struggle was not only missing but is totally out of context.”

“They are now trying to adopt Congress leaders and trying to rewrite history,” he said.

Mr Vadakkan said if an award is given or not given that is history, “we are into ground reality”. “What did Sardar Patel Ji do and who did he ban, these are issues that are in public domain.”

“Sardar Patel Ji is a Congressman, will remain in the hearts of people, awards do not matter for him,” he added.

The Congress leader also asserted that the party did not want certificates  from anybody to celebrate their leaders.

“Our leaders have been there and they are Congress leaders. Let there be no misunderstanding about it,” he said.