The RSS was not involved in the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, BJP patriarch LK Advani said in a blog, quoting Gandhi’s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi on Wednesday.

Advani’s blog ‘Mahatma was perhaps not right’ on Wednesday also said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s contributions have not been acknowledged.

“This book by Rajmohan Gandhi has effectively nailed the Congress party’s slanderous campaign against the RSS in respect of Mahatmaji’s assassination,” Advani wrote.
The BJP leader said that Rajmohan Gandhi in his book on Patel quoted a letter dated Feb 27, 1948, written by Patel to Jawaharlal Nehru.

The letter said: “I have kept myself almost in daily touch with the progress of the investigation regarding Bapu’s assassination case. I devote a large part of my evening to discussing with Sanjeevi (head of intelligence and inspector general of police, Delhi) the day’s progress and giving instructions to him on any points that arise. All the accused have given long and detailed statements… It emerges clearly from these statements that the RSS was not involved in it at all.”

Advani said that anyone who analyses history “readily feels that if Gandhiji had chosen Sardar Patel instead of Pandit Nehru to become free India’s first prime minister, it is quite likely the history of those early years may have been quite different”.

He also quoted Rajmohan Gandhi’s book on Patel, saying “while acknowledgements are fulsome in the case of Nehru, and dutiful in the case of Gandhi, they are niggardly in the case of Patel”.

“But the opinion of some that the Mahatma had been less than fair to Vallabhbhai was a factor in my decision to attempt to write the latter’s life. If a wrong had been perpetrated, some reparation from one of the Mahatma’s grandsons would be in order,” the book said.

The BJP patriarch added: “For Rajmohan, Gandhiji’s grandson, to say openly that Gandhiji had perhaps not been right in the decision he took about prime ministership, and, so merited some ‘reparation’ from one of his grandsons not only revealed his own greatness and magnanimity but also endorsed the general view that Sardar would have been a more appropriate choice.”

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday announced that the National Investigation Agency will probe into the attack on Tuesday in which 15 security men and a civilian were killed in a thickly-forested area of Chhattisgarh.

Earlier in the day, Shinde and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh paid homage to the security men who were killed when Maoists sprang the deadly ambush.

Condemning the attack, Shinde said the attack by the Maoists was on the CRPF team which was going to ensure access to road during the upcoming General Elections. There will be no change in election dates because of the attack, added Shinde. He further vowed to avenge this attack and promised detailed investigation into the security lapses.

The Home Minister though said there was intelligence yet it was not specific. He added that Maoists are scared that their importance is reducing.

“So many jawans have lost their lives in the attack, we will take revenge…the central and state forces are working together on it,” Shinde said.

“We had given the earlier case where leaders were killed to the NIA and similarly this case will also be probed by the NIA,” added Shinde, referring to the May 2013 Maoist attack in which 27 people, including senior Congress leaders, were massacred.

Addressing the media, Shinde said: “Naxal movement is gradually weakening and their numbers are dwindling while (Assembly) Elections were successfully held in Bastar region recently…they are now afraid”.

Shinde arrived here early Wednesday and held a brief meeting with Raman Singh and State Home Minister Ramsevak Paikra over the incident and later went to Jagdalpur.

Tributes were paid to the martyrs at the police parade ground in Jagdalpur, the administrative headquarters of Bastar district this morning, senior police officers told a news agency.

Shinde, Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt, members of the state Cabinet paid their respect to the martyrs at the wreath-laying ceremony.

Immediately afterwards, Shinde and Singh left for his office, where the Union Home Minister would hold a meeting with the officials and review the situation.

Meanwhile, police officials in Sukma said a combing operation has been launched to trace the Naxals involved in yesterday’s attack.

Also, Singh has refused to tender his resignation in the wake of the attack, saying Naxalism poses a challenge to the nation and the Maoist attack could not be seen from a political point of view.

Over 200 guerrillas ambushed with indiscriminate fire and bomb attack a patrol of 50-55 men from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police on a remote stretch of a forested road in Gheeram Ghati in Sukma district, about 500 km south of Raipur in the Bastar region.

The Maoists then walked away with AK-47 assault rifles of the slain security personnel.

After the attack, Shinde had warned that the Centre will take the Naxals head.

“I condemn this attack on the CRPF and the police of Chhattisgarh. We are taking it very seriously and we will fight against the Naxal movement.”

“We will fight against Naxal (Maoist) movement,” Shinde had said, adding it cannot be immediately said “whose failure” it was.

Rebel Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Ram Kripal Yadav, who is keen to contest from the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat in Bihar against RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti, on Wednesday joined the BJP.

BJP president Rajnath Singh made the announcement at the party headquarters here.

The former aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad thanked Rajnath Singh and the “man who is defining the next era of our nation Mr Narendra Modi”.

Vowing to work for the BJP as a grassroot worker, Yadav accused his mentor Lalu Prasad of promoting his family instead of acting for social justice.

Yadav, who had been a close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, joined BJP in the presence of party president Rajnath Singh and senior leaders from Bihar including Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Welcoming him into the party fold, Rajnath Singh said Yadav has been RJD’s secretary general for the last 17 years and had decided to support the BJP.

Expressing his gratitude to the BJP leadership for accepting him into the party, Yadav said he will work for the party not as a leader but as a worker, which he has been for the last 35 years of his political life.

Yadav, a former legislator and a Rajya Sabha MP, accused Lalu Prasad of “promoting” his family over his party workers, who he said, were feeling stifled.

“RJD has moved away from its core values. Lalu gave precedence to his family over party and cadres. I was in a dilemma on what to do for the last few days and then decided to quit the party and join BJP for the sake of giving social justice,” he said.

“I have never been a leader. I have been a common worker in my 35 years of working in the RJD. The RJD workers in Bihar are feeling suffocated as family is being given importance. I felt social justice should be taken forward and not family justice,” Yadav said in the presence of top BJP leadership.

Supporting ‘brother’ Modi, Yadav said he was proud that BJP had nominated a tea-seller coming from a backward class as its prime ministerial candidate and vowed to strive hard to make him the Prime Minister. In saying so, he also touted his own humble background.

Lauding Modi for improving the plight of Gujarat Muslims, Yadav accused the Nitish Kumar government of raising the bogey of communalism for the sake of votes and not doing any development work.

He claimed there has been no development of Muslims in Bihar and said, “Muslims have started realising that they have been used as a vote bank. The way Muslims have progressed in Gujarat is an example.”