Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia's criticism of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his "only maharajas enjoyed rights" remark evoked a strong response from the Congress on Tuesday as it said the Union minister may have forgotten the royal families' love for the British, "but we cannot forget".
Addressing a rally in Mhow on Monday, Gandhi said Dalits, backwards and tribals had no rights before Independence, when "only maharajas and rajas enjoyed rights".
"The change was brought with Independence. You got land and rights. The BJP-RSS wants an India of pre-Independence, where common people had no rights and only the likes of Adani and Ambani had rights. They want the poor to suffer in silence and not dream while the country is run by billionaires," he had said.
Attacking Gandhi for his remarks, Scindia said the statement given by Rahul Gandhi, a leader who considers the Constitution as his 'pocket diary', on the role of the royal families of India before independence exposes his narrow thinking and understanding.
"In his hunger for power and position, he has forgotten that these royal families had laid the foundation of equality and inclusive development in India years ago," Scinida said in his post on X on Monday night.
"He has forgotten that: Baroda Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad had provided financial assistance to our Constitution maker Baba Saheb Ambedkar to get education. Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj had laid the foundation of social justice in 1902 by giving 50 percent reservation to the Bahujans of the country in his governance for the first time," Scindia, who had quit the Congress to join the BJP in 2020, said.
To empower the backward classes educationally, Madhav Maharaj I of Gwalior had opened education and employment centres in the entire Gwalior-Chambal, the BJP leader pointed out.
It was the Congress that gave birth to the dictatorial ideology and worked to attack the rights of the Dalits, deprived and backward classes, he alleges.
"Rahul Gandhi, first read history, then make statements!" Scindia said.
Five-time MP Dushyant Singh, whose mother and BJP veteran Vasundhara Raje is Jyotiraditya Scindia's aunt, also attacked Gandhi's remarks.
"Rahul Gandhi’s statement is yet another example of his reckless “hit-and-run” politics, where he makes sweeping generalizations without understanding history. Claiming that royal families did nothing for the poor shows ignorance of the immense contributions made by leaders like Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, who championed social reforms, and the Gaekwad family of Vadodara, who supported Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s education," he said in a post on X.
"The Dholpur royals also played a crucial role in social and infrastructural development. Maharaj Rana Nihal Singh modernized the state’s administration, built hospitals, and developed essential public infrastructure like roads and railways, while his successor continued these progressive efforts," he added.
He further said, "These families played pivotal roles in shaping India’s progress toward equality and justice. Dismissing their efforts not only disrespects their legacy but also exposes Rahul’s habit of making baseless comments for political mileage. Instead of undermining history, he should focus on substantive solutions to current issues."
Hitting back at Scindia, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "History points its finger at you and cries your highness. If the 26th amendment of the Constitution had not been made, even today the Government of India would have been giving crores of rupees tax free to the Gwalior royal family (25,00,000 in 1950)."
"You kept taking this price for merging into India, till 1971. You may have forgotten the treachery of the royal families and their love for the British, but we all cannot forget," Khera said in his post in Hindi on X on Tuesday.
History is witness that the pistol of a royal family was used in the assassination of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress leader said.
The list of misdeeds of many royal families cannot be covered by the goodness of a few kings, Khera said.
"The pain of (Jawaharlal) Nehru and (Vallabhbhai) Patel putting pressure on the kings and princes and handing over the reins of democracy to the common citizens still remains in some royal families," he claimed.
Khera went on to quote Nehru from his in his speech in the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947.
"It is extremely heinous for any person, no matter how high his status is, to say that I have come to rule over mankind by God-given privilege. This idea is intolerable and this assembly will never accept it. If this matter is presented before the assembly, it will also strongly oppose it," Nehru was quoted as saying.
"We have heard a lot about the divine right of kings. We had read about it in history and thought that now the idea of ?divine right is over. It was buried a long time ago. If today in Hindustan or anywhere else any person talks about this divine right, then his discussion is completely inconsistent with the present condition of India," the first PM had said, according to Khera.
In a jibe at Scindia, Khera also put out a few lines of a famous poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan on the Rani of Jhansi.
In the poem, the Scindias are referred to as the friends of the British.
Scindia was in the Congress for a long time and was considered a close associate of Gandhi. He quit the party and joined the BJP in 2020 following differences with its leadership, especially in his home state Madhya Pradesh, leading to the fall of the then Kamal Nath-led Congress government.
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