BJP insulting 60 crore women of India by comparing Indira Gandhi to Adolf Hitler, says Gehlot

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said the BJP is insulting 60 crore women in the country by comparing former prime minister Indira Gandhi to German dictator Adolf Hitler.

"By insulting former prime minister Indira Gandhi, the BJP is insulting the 60 crore women of the country and their courage," he said, adding she was a symbol of women empowerment in the world.

His remark came a day after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley drew a parallel between Hitler and Gandhi, saying both turned democracy into dictatorship.

Jaitley, in an article 'The Emergency Revisited' said unlike Hitler, Gandhi went a step ahead by endeavouring to transform India into a "dynastic democracy".

Gehlot alleged the Modi government of working in a dictatorial manner.

"This can be seen in the views expressed by BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha and Ghamshyam Tiwari. The BJP has developed the art of speaking a lie a 100 times to make it look like the truth and this is what they are doing by speaking against the Emergency, imposed 43 years ago," Gehlot said.

The Congress general secretary said Gandhi did not impose the Emergency to save her own chair, but to save the country.

"This is not told to the people of the country as to what state of affairs the country was brought into at that time. At that time, a leader threatened to damage railway tracks and another tried to instigate the military and the police to go against the state while touring another country,” Gehlot said.

"When such conditions are no longer there in the country, why is the government not allowing the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, and media to do their work," Gehlot asked.

The Congress leader also alleged the BJP leaders were not telling the country of Gandhi’s contributions, while former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had termed her as Durga.

“The BJP leaders are not telling the country that it was Gandhi's efforts that led to the creation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. They also do not tell the country that she nationalised banks and launched a war against hoarders and black marketeers, and against the small kingdoms. She was the person who initiated schemes to eliminate poverty," Gehlot said.

(With inputs from agencies)