Shankersinh Vaghela backs Narendra Modi, then defends faux pas

VADODARA: Chief minister Narendra Modi, who came under attack from Congress for his Shyama-Shyamji gaffe recently, found support on Thursday from the most unexpected quarters. His bitter foe and one-time associate Shankersinh Vaghela defended the faux pas saying it was unintentional.

“It was just a slip of tongue. I am sure it was not intentional and such things happen while giving speeches ,” Vaghela, who is the leader of opposition in the assembly , said at a press conference.

Modi’s slip happened during a speech at Balasinor last Sunday at the inauguration of Reliable Hospital and Research Institute managed by a Muslim trust in Rojva village of Kheda district.

During the speech, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate mistook the Kutch-born revolutionary Shyamji Krishna Verma for Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookherjee.
“When the country got freedom in 1947, the first thing Nehru should have done is to send a representative and get back the ashes of Shyama Prasad Mookherjee who had fought his whole life for the country. He did not do it. This was not done till 2003. He died in 1930 and for 73 years — 50 years after Independence — the ashes were waiting to be brought here,” Modi said. It turned out Modi was referring to Shyamaji Krishna Verma.

After a chit was sent to him noting the gaffe, Modi asked for the mike again and apologized for his mistake.

Soon after the blooper, the Congress didn’t hold back any punches and said the BJP was trying to “invent” a new ancestry. Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia had said Modi needed a good history teacher.