Nov 07, 2013 – FAISAL MALIK |Asian Age
In an attempt to make a political issue out of the historical goof-ups made by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in his speech, the Congress and NCP on Wednesday sent some history books to NDA’s prime ministerial candidate as a Diwali gift.

The youth wing of Congress sent history textbooks from Class 5 to 9 while NCP has sent seven history books, including letters written by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to then Sarsanghchalak M.S. Golwalkar and Shyamapra-sad Mukherji, founder of Bhartiya Jan Sangh (BJS).

Mr Modi during his “Hunkar” rally at Gandhi Maidan in Bihar had made several blunders in his speech while giving historical references that were later highlighted by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Ganesh Kumar Yadav, president, Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress said that in view of the blunders, it believed that Mr Modi’s knowledge of India’s history is very weak. “It is expected from a person in race for the prime ministerial post to have some basic knowledge of Indian history. Hence, we are sending books of history from Class 5 to 8 of SSC board and Class 9-10 of ICSE board as a Diwali gift to him to improve his general knowledge,” Mr Yadav said.

NCP state working president Jitendra Awhad said, “We don’t expect all knowledge of history from a political leader, but we certainly expect that while addressing thousands of people, historical facts presented are correct.”
The Bihar CM, who never mentioned Modi’s name, also accused him of being ignorant of history. “He confused the reign of Chandragupta, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, with the period when the Gupta dynasty ruled India. He also claimed that Bihar was the seat of Takshila whereas the fact is that the ancient university was located in the northwest region which forms part of Pakistan. And then he said that Alexander had come as far as Ganga whereas the fact is that the Greek warrior did not venture beyond the Sutlej,” he said. 
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