Nov 14 luncheon for journalists and leaders wasn't meant to remember Nehru: Congress leader

By Rajiv Shah 

It was with a welcome surprise that I received a reaction from Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil objecting to my blog titled “When Congress leaders in Gujarat forgot to remember Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14”. I hadn’t sent a link of the blog to anyone, not to talk of Gohil or any other Congress person. I was glad: this suggests that he or some of his colleagues have been following my blogs and articles in Counterview.

Be that as it may, Gohil, sharply reacting to my blog where I had said that Nehru wasn’t recalled or his presence wasn’t felt at the luncheon organised for journalists and party leaders on Nehru’s 135th birthday, noted: this is not true, Nehru was “remembered” earlier in the morning before luncheon – at public function at Bal Vatika, Kankaria, for children, and at the Gujarat state party office in Ahmedabad. “We offered floral tributes to his statue and his portrait”, he added. 

Sending across photographs to me along with two voice messages (click here and here), Gohil claimed, there was “huge gathering” at these functions. “We have tweeted about this” (click here for the tweet), he said, sending across the tweet as well.

“Your blog says Nehru was not remembered is not true”, he insisted twice, adding, the blog will not go show his party in poor light; rather my credibility will suffer. As for luncheon, where Nehru wasn’t recalled on November 14, he said, it was a “get together, there was no mike, hence there was no question of remembering(sic!).”

Reacting to the blog’s point that two desks had Rahul Gandhi’s photographs with Congress leaders, Gohil said, many Congress persons as also journalists had wanted themselves to be clicked when “Rahul ji had come to Gujarat during his padyatra... There was a request to provide the photographs. Hence we displayed them on the two desks, so that those who had clicked with Rahul ji could take their photographs. Many did this...”

I have uploaded all the photographs that he sent me, as also the screenshot of the tweet he sent me, to allow readers to judge for themselves as to how big (or “huge”) were the gatherings.

Following his first voice message, I specifically asked Gohil to answer in writing several questions which were:

1. Can you tell me why there was no Nehru at the luncheon, none; including you, remembered him; nor was there a photo; when I asked what's the occasion today, he wasn't even "remembered", while Rahul was there? That too on November 14?
2. Did you hold any public functions to remember Nehru? Priyanka Gandhi did this in Delhi. 
3. What's Gujarat Congress doing to counter the all round smear campaign currently on against Nehru?
   

Instead of sending a written reply, what followed was the second voice message (which was okay), where Gohil also said, generally he doesn’t react to such criticisms, which many journalists make, but since he respects me, he is sending across what all the Congress leadership did in Gujarat to remember Nehru on November 14.
“It is journalists who make false claims about us lose credibility”, he concluded.