BJP ‘disrespectful’ to Indira: Congress

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at a function to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the Indira Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi. (Photo: Asian Age)

On the 32nd death anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi led a march from the Congress headquarters here to the Indira Gandhi Memorial at 1 Safdarjung Road, covering a distance of over a kilometre, on Monday.

Apart from former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, President Pranab Mukherjee was also present at 1 Safdarjung Road. However, no representative of the government of India was present. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did pay tributes to Indira Gandhi in a tweet.

Earlier, the Congress had said that no programme would be held at the Shakti Sthal as it was closed due to the bird flu scare. Senior leaders like Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Kumari Selja took part in the march.

Congress leader Anand Sharma accused the government of being “shameful” and “disrespectful” towards the former PM. Mr Sharma said, “Modi is thinking of creating a division in the society, but there is no division in the Congress on Sardar Patel and Indira Gandhi.” He also added that she was a “powerful PM who gave her life for the country.”

The fight over negligence towards political leaders between the Congress and the BJP is here to stay.