I did not sit on Tagore's chair but Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi did: Shah slams Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

New Delhi, Feb 09: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday rubbished Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's allegations that he sat on Rabindranath Tagore's chair during his recent visit to Santiniketan in West Bengal.

Referring to a letter by Vice-chancellor of Shantiniketan, Shah clarified that there was no violation by him during his visit to the place as he didn't sit on the chair but on a window.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah said the charges levelled against him are devoid of facts.

"I did not sit on Rabindranath Tagore's chair. I want to clarify in the Lok Sabha that I did not intend to hurt any sentiments," said Shah, while showing some pictures of Pranab Mukherjee, Rajiv Gandhi and few other political leaders sitting on the window to sign visitor's book.

Earlier on Monday, while addressing the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged Amit Shah sat on Tagore's chair at Santiniketan and disrespected the Nobel laureate.

"He isn't aware of the facts. I am keeping the facts on record. The truth is that Jawaharlal Nehru sat on Rabindranath Tagore's chair and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had tea on his sofa," Amit Shah said while presenting some photographs as evidence in the House.

Shah also took a dig at Congress party for "misleading" everyone as per its culture.
"You have unfortunately been misinformed, as this is patently untrue. In the past, during their official visits to Uttarayan, a number of dignitaries, including the former Chancellors, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Madam Pratibha Patil, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Madam Shiekh Hasina, among others, have sat in that makeshift seat, which is actually just the edge of a window on which cushions are placed. This fact has been documented in photographs," the vice-chancellor wrote in his letter.

On December 20 last year, Shah visited Vishwa Bharti University at Shantiniketan in the Birbhum district and paid tribute to Rabindranath Tagore.