News Analysis India

Tag: Indira Gandhi

  • Minister Suresh Gopi Clarifies ‘Mother Of India’ Remark on Former PM Indira Gandhi |

    Thiruvananthapuram: Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Sunday clarified his comments on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, where he referred to her as “Mother of India”, and said it was a “contextual reference.” The BJP MP said that it was a contextual reference, while he was elaborating on the role of late Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran, who Gopi had earlier described as a “courageous administrator.”

    Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Gopi said, “It was a contextual reference. I was talking about the true worth of leader Karunakaran. Like how to the Congress and non-Congress people of Kerala, even though there might be founders and co-founders, the administrational quality and efforts that result totally to the benefit of people, Karunakaran should be the father of Congress in Kerala. In the context of that, I had referred to Indira Gandhi as the mother of Congress in India.”

    Earlier, Gopi, who was inducted as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Tourism, referred to veteran leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxists, EK Nayanar and K Karunakaran, as his “political gurus.Simply because my father’s family was a Congress family, my mother’s family worked up to the formation of Janasangh in Kerala…I was in the SFI. But the reason behind my shift was not political. It was emotional. I will live my life emotionally as well, being acceptable to all classes of life, all segments of life, all levels of life,” the BJP MP said on Sunday.

    “My parentage, my traditions, the essence of Sanatana Dharma–I have to perform all those valuable traits. Simply because Indira Gandhi is Congress, and for that draconian act of hers, I cannot sway away from attributing. I call her the real architect of India post-independence until her death,” he added.

    Notably, Suresh Gopi defeated K Karunakaran’s son, K Muraleedharan, in the Thrissur constituency in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The actor-turned-politician has become the first Lok Sabha BJP MP from Kerala after winning the Thrissur constituency. He defeated the ruling Left Democratic Front candidate, V.S. Sunilkumar, by a margin of 74,686 votes.

    Gopi was sworn in as Minister of State in the Modi 3.0 cabinet. He assumed charge as Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas as well as the Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday morning, earlier this week. 

  • Suresh Gopi on Indira Gandhi: Suresh Gopi clarifies ‘mother of India’ reference about Indira Gandhi

    A day after his reference to former prime minister Indira Gandhi as “mother of India” received widespread attention, Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Sunday clarified that he called the late leader the mother of the Congress party in the country and his remarks were misinterpreted by the media.

    The actor-turned-politician said he was a person talking from the heart and he firmly believed that there was nothing wrong in what he said about Indira Gandhi.

    While addressing the media here, the BJP leader asked the reporters whether they don’t understand the “contextual meaning of language.” “What did I say? As far as the Congress is concerned…whether anyone likes it or not… K Karunakaran is the father of the Congress party in Kerala. In India, its mother is Indira Gandhi. I said this from my heart,” Suresh Gopi said.

    The minister of state for petroleum and tourism, however, continued to lavish praises on Indira Gandhi on Sunday as well.

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    “Indira Gandhi is the real architect of India post independence and until her demise. I have to make these attributions anyway. I cannot forget a person who had worked sincerely for the country only because she belonged to the political rival party,” he added. While visiting the memorial of late Congress Chief Minister K Karunakaran in Thrissur on Saturday, Gopi had described Indira Gandhi as the “mother of India” and Karunakaran as a “courageous administrator”. The BJP leader had also said that he considered Karunakaran and Marxist veteran E K Nayanar his “political gurus”.

    Gopi said as he viewed Indira Gandhi as “bharathathinte mathavu” (mother of India), Karunakaran was the “father of the Congress party in the state” for him.

    He explained that describing Karunakaran as the “father” of the Congress in Kerala was not a disrespect to the founders or co-founders of the grand old party in the state.

    Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat recently, opening the BJP’s electoral account in Kerala. Thrissur had witnessed a three-way contest for the Lok Sabha polls, with major candidates from the Congress, BJP, and CPI locked in a neck-and-neck battle.

  • Lok Sabha Elections 2024: PM Modi takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi over Constitution remark: ‘Shehzade ke Dadi ke Pita ji…’ – The Economic Times Video

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his latest ‘BJP trying to abolish Constitution’ remark. “The Prince’s grandmother’s father insulted the Constitution… Then his grandmother got the opportunity to do unconstitutional acts…and they talk about the Constitution in front of us,” said PM Modi.