Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh assembly speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit Monday issued a clarification, after a comment he made about Mahatma Gandhi sparked a controversy.
At a BJP event in Unnao Saturday, Dixit said, “Gandhi ji kapde kam pehante the, dhoti pehente the… Gandhi ji ko Bapu kaha gaya. Ab agar kapde utarne se koi mahaan ho jata hai toh Rakhi Sawant Mahatma Gandhi se badi ban jati… (Gandhi ji used to wear few clothes, he used to wear a dhoti… He was called Bapu. If people could become great just by shedding their clothes, then Rakhi Sawant would have been a taller personality than Gandhi).”
Dixit, the MLA for Unnao’s Bhagwant Nagar seat, was addressing a “Prabuddha Jann” event, a series of conferences being organised by the BJP across the state, where assembly elections are due early next year.
A video of the remarks subsequently went viral, drawing criticism from the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, who said Dixit’s comment amounted to an insult to Gandhi and women.
However, taking to Twitter Monday, Dixit said he had been quoted out of context, adding that the viral clip just showed part of his speech.
Dixit said he was introduced at the event as a “prabuddha (intellectual) writer but I didn’t agree to it”.
“By writing some books and articles, one doesn’t become an intellectual. By the same token, I said Mahatma Gandhi used to wear few clothes. He is regarded by the nation as Bapu. That doesn’t mean Rakhi Sawant will become Gandhi,” he added.
मैंने इसी बिंदु से बात आगे बढ़ाते हुए कहा कि कुछ पुस्तकों और लेखों के लिखने से ही कोई प्रबुद्ध नहीं हो जाता। महात्मा गांधी कम कपड़े पहनते थे। देश ने उन्हें 'बापू' कहा। लेकिन इसका अर्थ यह नहीं राखी सावंत भी गांधी जी हो जाएंगी।
— Hriday Narayan Dixit (@Speaker_UPLA) September 19, 2021
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav was among those who lashed out at Dixit’s remarks at the Unnao event, tweeting the clip with the hashtag “jhooth_ka_phool (flower of lies)”, a purported dig invoking the BJP’s party symbol.
#झूठ_का_फूल pic.twitter.com/oIQl4RAZHq
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 20, 2021
SP MLC Sunil Sajan said the speaker “not only disrespected Gandhi, but also women by commenting on their dress”. “This is an insult to every girl of the country. We all know they don’t like the ideology of Gandhi, but he should apologise for his comments,” he added in a statement.
UP Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said in a statement that BJP and RSS leaders have a “habit of disrespecting Mahatma Gandhi”.
“They love Savarkar and hate Gandhi, everyone knows that. Earlier, too, their leaders have made such comments about Bapu. The speaker should apologise publicly for his views.”
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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