As war of words between BJP and Congress over appropriating the legacy of Sardar Patel intensifies, Union Minister V Narayanasamy today accused the opposition party of playing "cheap politics" over the matter.
"BJP is a half-baked party. Sorry to say, they jump the gun. The issue raised by Prime Minister that Sardar Patel is a secular person. As iron man, he has done the job. And there was no problem between Nehru and Sardar Patel. There was coordination. BJP is trying to play politics. It is doing cheap politics." Narayanasamy told reporters here.
Narayanasamy was responding to questions on claims and counter claims over Sardar Patel being made by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress leaders.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Modi had on October 29 crossed swords over Sardar Patel as they shared dais in Ahmedabad at an event on the first Home Minister.
Modi had made a veiled attack on Jawaharlal Nehru saying that the country's "fate" and "face" would have been different if Patel had been the first Prime Minister.
Singh had also immediately hit back by questioning Modi's claim over Patel's legacy, saying the the late leader was secular and liberal to the core, having respect for those with different ideology.
Modi had reportedly said in an interview to a daily that Jawaharlal Nehru had skipped Patel's funeral, leading Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh to tweet a video of the funeral in which Nehru was clearly seen. Modi had later denied saying so. Later, the newspaper also said that the Gujarat Chief Minister had not made any such comment.
Narayanasamy declined to make any comment over today's Supreme Court judgement favouring fixed tenure for bureaucrats.
"I have to go through the judgement. I cannot comment till I read the judgement," said the Minister, in charge of Ministry of Personnel.
