BJP chief unaware of Shyama Mukherjee’s history, says Cong

New Delhi, June 30

The Congress today hit back at BJP president Amit Shah telling him that he should know history of his party leaders, insisting that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was “as much a part” of the decision as Jawaharlal Nehru on referring the Kashmir issue to UN.

Senior party leader S Jaipal Reddy said when Nehru’s government decided on special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 371, that time too Mukherjee was a member of the Cabinet.

“Mukherjee resigned from the Cabinet on the ground that Sheikh Abdullah as Leader of the J&K government was not being properly checkmated,” he said, suggesting that Mukherhjee never made an issue of representation to the UN or Article 371 at that time.

Reddy emphasised that Mukherjee cannot be projected as the unifying force of pre-Partition India because “unlike Congress leaders, Mukherjee was pleading loudly for partition of Bengal”.

“Mukherjee was accused of being involved in the 1946 riots of Dacca. So why pit Mukherjee against Nehru when record of Mukherjee is not lily white,” said Reddy.

Taking a dig at the BJP chief, the former Union Minister said, “Amit Shah does not know history. He should at least know history of his party leader. He is new to national politics.”

Shah had yesterday blamed Nehru accusing him of having committed a “historic blunder” on Kashmir and had flayed the then Congress leadership for the Partition. — PTI