Present Cong not original, 'fake Gandhis' doing politics: HDK

NT Correspondent

Mandya: JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said that the present Congress in the country is not the "original" one, and hit out at the party's leadership, stating that fake Gandhis are doing politics in the name of Mahatma Gandhi. Noting that Gandhi had called for the disbanding of the Congress, he slammed its state unit, terming it as the party of " Ali Baba and the forty thieves", and targeted its government in Karnataka.

"Today the Congress leaders have gathered in Belagavi in the name of Gandhi to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Indian National Congress session that was presided over by him. The government is spending crores of rupees on it, but I did not see Gandhi's cutout anywhere, instead of Gandhi, the fake Gandhis who are doing politics in the name of Gandhi. Their large scale cutout has been erected," Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said he has no objections to the programme being organised in the name of Gandhi, who has contributed immensely to the freedom struggle and dreamt of real freedom for the people of the country. "What is the contribution of these people (Congress leaders)?..what is their contribution in the name of Gandhi? What have they done in the last one year?" he asked, and questioned the Congress and the party's government in Karnataka. Congress is commemorating the centenary of the 1924 Indian National Congress session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.