Jaipur, Nov 7 (IANS): Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari alleged on Thursday that the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is working to divide the society on caste lines.
“Rahul Gandhi does not know the history of India. He is only working to divide India and its people on caste lines. Such a leader should be boycotted,” said the Deputy Chief Minister while addressing the BJP Mahila Morcha program in Dausa in support of BJP candidate Jagmohan Meena.
She also slammed the LoP for describing the country's former kings as "pliant maharajas" subjugated by the East India Company.
“You should have read history before accusing kings and maharajas of taking bribes and supporting the British and the East India Company. The princely states had a huge contribution to the unification of the country,” she claimed.
She further claimed that maybe Rahul Gandhi has not read the history which is why he is not aware of the facts and should study history.
Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, who is the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last Maharaja of Jaipur, also voiced her disapproval on the X about the opinion piece of the LoP Rahul Gandhi.
"I strongly condemn Mr Rahul Gandhi's attempt to malign the erstwhile royal families of India in an editorial today. The dream of an integrated India was only possible because of the utmost sacrifice of the erstwhile royal families of India," she said.
Earlier in the day, the scions of Indian royal families also took exception to Rahul Gandhi’s article, where he wrote that India’s silence under the East India Company was not due to its business control but rather its oppressive control.
Vikramaditya Singh, former Congress leader and grandson of Maharaja Sir Hari Singh, the last ruler of Kashmir, criticised Gandhi's "superficial understanding of history."
"The irony is that Mr Rahul Gandhi, coming from such immense privilege himself, would repeatedly attempt to malign the Maharajas' colossal contributions to the Republic of India is appalling," Singh wrote.
Chaitanya Raj Singh, representing the former royal family of Jaisalmer, called the LoP's claims "baseless and unacceptable," remarking, "Perhaps Rahul Gandhi has forgotten who actually did the work of uniting India; he should look into the pages of history."
In an article in a leading daily, Rahul Gandhi wrote that the Easy India Company suppressed India by allying with, bribing and threatening more pliant maharajas and nawabs.