“Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was assassinated by Mahatma Gandhi”. Such remarks were made by Narendra Kumar Khichar, a BJP MP from Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Since then it has become a hotly debated issue.

However, he changed his tune as soon as the video of the speech went viral. TN his defence he said that the remarks were not intentionally made, it was a mistake. In his words, he highly respects Mahatma Gandhi. He also has a picture of Gandhi kept in my office.

On June 25, MP Narendra Kumar Khichar attended the unveiling ceremony of the statue of freedom fighter Shewlal Khichhad at Bakra village. There he said that Mahatma Gandhi had killed Subhash Chandra Bose.

According to the MP, the practice of killing the father and taking over the throne by the son has been going on since the time of Raja Maharajas. The same thing happened during the time of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The MP claimed that his remarks had been misinterpreted. He said, “I wanted to say that Subhash Chandra Bose should have been the first Prime Minister after independence. Subhash Chandra could have been the Prime Minister if Gandhi had wanted to, but Gandhi personally liked Jawaharlal Nehru. I mean, Netaji could not be the Prime Minister because of Gandhi. Gandhi assassinated Subhash Chandra Bose politically.”

When the controversy escalated, MP Narendra Kumar Khichar said, “Mahatma Gandhi was the Father of the Nation. I apologize for saying anything disrespectful about him. We are following the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, we are all patriots. I have full respect for Mahatma Gandhi.”