Shah had reportedly said that the Congress was not rooted in any ideology or principles.
A day after BJP president Amit Shah described Mahatma Gandhi as "bahut chatur baniya" (a very clever businessman) who used Congress as an SPV (special purpose vehicle) to secure freedom, the Congress hit back, demanding an apology from him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for belittling the father of the nation and the freedom struggle.
"It is not only a gross insult to Mahatma Gandhi but also to the whole Independence struggle. Have the emotions to fight for Independence become a business today? Only power brokers like Amit Shah and kale angrez of BJP can have such kind of ideology, " said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Shah had reportedly said that the Congress was not rooted in any ideology or principles.
"Aur isi liye Mahatma Gandhi ne durandesi ke saath, bahut chatur baniya tha woh, usko maloom tha aage kya hone waala hai, usne azadi ke baad turant kaha tha, Congress ko bikher dena chahiye. (And that is why Mahatma Gandhi with much foresight, was a very clever baniya, who knew what was to going to happen, said immediately after independence that Congress should be disbanded)," Shah had said.
Responding to Surjewala's demand for apology, Amit Shah, is purported to have said in Raipur on Saturday, "Everyone present in the public meeting knows with what objective I called Mahatma Gandhi a baniya. It is Surjewala who has a lot to answer on Mahatma Gandhi's principles."
Slamming Shah, Surjewala alleged that "Amit Shah, who himself is a trader of power, is today saying that the freedom movement was a business model. But in reality, before independence, Britishers used RSS and Hindu Mahasabha as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for partition of the country."
Joining the row, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the comments "uncalled for and unethical" while former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat slammed Shah for the "contempt the BJP- RSS has for Gandhiji."
CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy too demanded an apology from Shah for making "derogatory" remarks.
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