Click to play videoNew Delhi: If the mention of Jinnah with a touch of reverence did BJP leader Jaswant Singh in and ultimately thrown out of the party, his book that created the controversy has met with similar fate in Gujarat.
Jinnah - India Partition Independence has been banned by the BJP-led government in Gujarat.
Gujarat Government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas said, "I think it is an injustice to a national hero like Sardar Patel. Gujarat would not permit this kind of a book to be sold in the state."
Over the years BJP has built an aggressive campaign appropriating Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's legacy. LK Advani allegedly fashioned his entire political career trying to don the mantle of Sardar Patel.
Advani also in the process acquired the nick name of Lauh Purush or the Iron Man, a term often used to describe the tough characted of Patel.
In Advani's home state of Gujarat, Narendra Modi is hailed as the modern day version of Sardar Patel. The fact that Congress left out Sardar Patel and toed the Gandhi Nehru line, only helped the BJP.
Political analyst Professor Balveer Arora said, "Gandhi's legacy was taken by the Congress through Nehru. BJP stepped in to in a sense claim the legacy of Sardar Patel."
Quoting Patel in his book, Jaswant Singh has written on page 471 - "It is a revealing letter for quite apart from how far off from the mark Patel was in respect of so many of his projections about the future, he was also for the first time, even if by implication, accepting partition..."
BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, "The BJP believes that Sardar Patel forged India together. Ironically, to blame him for partition is an act someone from our own party did and will not be tolerated."
According to BJP, Jinnah is the villain and is blamed for partitioning India. Sardar Patel is the Hero, the architect of India's unification. In, what many would describe as the BJP's black-and-white view of India's history, these claims shall never be questioned. Jaswant Singh is currently paying the price for doing just that.
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