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Congress: where was Shekhawat during freedom struggle?

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday sought to raise questions on the role of Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat during the freedom struggle and his joining the British police when the Quit India movement had begun.

Suggesting that Mr. Shekhawat respond to the “serious allegations,” the Congress wondered where he was during the freedom struggle when people, heeding the call of Mahatma Gandhi, gave up their jobs and joined the movement.

The Congress said the allegations against Mr. Shekhawat were published, raised in the Rajasthan Assembly and were now in the public domain.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was backing Mr. Shekhawat’s candidature, should remember that people who lived in glass houses should think twice before throwing stones at others.

CPI(M)’s dig at Sushma

The CPI(M) took a dig at BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj for informing the nation that Mr. Shekhawat joined the police force as a probationary sub-inspector in 1942 and for showing a discharge note of 1948 which highlighted the commendable role of the sub-inspector.

“Sushma Swaraj seems not to have realised the damage that she is doing to Shekhawat’s candidature. Everyone in the country knows that the Quit India movement was launched in 1942. Millions of freedom fighters were subjected to police brutalities during this movement. What does it mean to serve the police force in this period and leave the service with a discharge note commending the performance soon after our independence,” asked an editorial in the latest issue of party organ People’s Democracy.

Was Ms. Swaraj aware of what she was attributing to Mr. Shekhawat — “serving the police and acting against the Indian freedom movement?”

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