‘Just categorised freedom struggle, did not mention Gandhi’: Anantkumar Hegde

Bengaluru, Feb 04: BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde on Tuesday cried foul over the controversy surrounding his comments on Mahatma Gandhi and said he was only trying to "categorise freedom struggle".

Clarifying his statement, the MP told ANI, "I own my statement made on 1 Feb, 2020. I never made any reference to any political party or Mahatma Gandhi or anybody else, I was just trying to categorise freedom struggle.

The controversial remarks made by Hegde on Mahatma Gandhi rocked Lok Sabha on Tuesday, with Congress members shouting slogans and walking out of the House after accusing the ruling party of doing "Godse politics".

At an event in Bengaluru recently, Hegde had said that freedom fighters, who did not sacrifice anything, made the country believe that it attained Independence through 'Upavas Satyagrah', Gandhi's preferred mode of agitation, and became Mahapurush (great person).

The former MP had said, "There were two types of freedom fighters, one which believed in Shastra (arms) and another in Shaastra (intellectual motivators).

Members from the Congress, DMK and NCP sought to raise the issue of Hegde's remarks but the Speaker did not allow them.