Addressing a gathering after the inauguration of a multi-speciality hospital in Gujarat's Kheda district, Modi said, "Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a revolutionary. He died in 1930 in London. But the Congress never bothered to bring back his ashes to the country."
Going by the facts, the revolutionary Modi was referring to was Shyamji Krishna Verma, a freedom fighter, lawyer and a journalist.
Mookerjee was the founder of the Jan Sangh, which was later transformed into the BJP. He died in a Jammu and Kashmir prison on June 23, 1953 - 45 days after being detained for entering the state without a permit.
At a rally in Punjab in June this year, Modi had held India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru responsible for Mookerjee's death.
But on Sunday, Modi said, "Nehru should have sent an emissary to bring the ashes (of Mookerjee) back. The Congress government didn't get them back till 2003. It was me who brought the ashes to India in 2003."
Modi later apologised for the blunder. But his critics on Twitter described him as "his own party's history".
Modi has landed in a tight spot more than once for making serial mistakes during his recent speeches.
At the October 27 Patna rally - held hours after serial blasts rocked the Bihar capital - Modi had said, "When we are reminded of the Gupta Dynasty, we are reminded of Chandragupta's rajneeti."
Bihar chief minister and Modi's political rival, Nitish Kumar, had replied saying, "The BJP has amazing grasp of history. They should know Chandragupta was of Maurya dynasty, not of Gupta dynasty."
Source: HT
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