Sir — Of late, critics of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi have been harping on his ‘poor grasp’ of history. We all slip up on historical facts, especially on matters relating to ancient times. To that extent, one can excuse Mr Modi’s mistakes.
But what do we say when Union Ministers are unaware of even recent political history — the least that they should be conversant withIJ Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh, in a fit of enthusiasm, blamed the BJP-led NDA regime for downgrading Rajiv Gandhi’s security. He forgot that it was not the NDA regime but that of Chandra Shekhar which the Congress supported from outside, which withdrew Rajiv Gandhi’s highest level of security.
The NDA regime actually extended security cover to all former Prime Ministers and their family members — which is why Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her family get SPG protection.
Instead of admitting the blunder by its Minister, the Congress went on an overdrive trying to split hairs and justify Mr Singh’s remarks by concocting a context that did not exist when the Minister made the erroneous remark.