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A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar compared Mahatma Gandhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Manish Tewari said that comparing the great Mahatma Gandhi to anybody is nothing short of a "sacrilege".
Vice President Dhankhar on Monday described Mahatma Gandhi as the 'Mahapurush' of the last century and Modi as the 'Yugpurush' of this century.
"The great Mahatma, fashioned, crafted and honed, the instrument of non-violence. As a means of passive resistance when the only thing the world knew was war as a means of resistance and conflict as a method of opposing oppression. At this time Mahatma mobilized millions and millions of Indians to passively struggle against British imperialism and was the harbinger of India's freedom in 1947," said Tewari.
Tewari said the Mahatma was a secularist and democratic in his disposition and the only person who measured upto him was Nelson Mandela.
"Mahatma Gandhi has been considered to be perhaps the tallest figure of the 20th century. The only person who measures up to him in some manner is the late Nelson Mandela, who had dismantled apartheid in South Africa," the Congress leader said.
"Even Mandela used to consider the great Mahatma as a spiritual mentor, therefore under those circumstances, to compare the great Mahatma to anybody for that matter is nothing short of sacrilege," Tewari added.
Vice President Dhankar also received sharp criticism from Congress MP Manickam Tagore for drawing the comparison.
Reacting to the Vice President's remarks, Tagore said that even PM Modi would not accept this comparison.
"It is very unfortunate and it shows that each institution in India is collapsing. Vice President Dhankar comparing Mahatma to Prime Minister Modi is unacceptable," Tagore said.
"Even PM Modi won't accept it. This is the limit of sycophancy. With great respect to the Vice President, this pains us. People like the honourable Vice President of India should not give these kinds of comparisons on which Mahatma Gandhi is insulted. I feel pain and I hope that this kind of sycophancies must be stopped," he added.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said history and the people decide who is a purush, yugpurush and a mahapurush.
Dhankhar while speaking at the birth anniversary celebrations of Jain mystic and philosopher Shrimad Rajchandraji on Monday said, “Mahatma Gandhi freed us from the slavery of British through satyagraha and non-violence. India's successful Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken us to a path where we always wanted to be."
“I want to tell you one thing. The mahapurush of last century was Mahatma Gandhi. Narendra Modi is the yugpurush of this century,” Dhankhar said.