NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the world came to know Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, only through the film Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough in 1982. The Prime Minister's controversial comment was in an interview given to a national channel.

'Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader. In these 75 years, is it not our responsibility to inform the world about Mahatma Gandhi? The world came to know him only after the release of the movie. Everyone knew about other leaders like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. No one knew Gandhi despite him being a world leader similar to them," Modi said. Modi also alleged that the Congress did not promote Gandhi.

After Modi's video went viral, Congress came out with severe criticism. Jairam Ramesh said that Modi's words are destroying the Gandhian heritage. Gandhian institutions were destroyed by the Modi government. RSS people are unable to understand Mahatma Gandhi's nationalism. He added that it was the atmosphere created by their ideology that led Nathuram Godse to assassinate Gandhi. Jairam Ramesh also said that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be a fight between devotees of Mahatma Gandhi and devotees of Godse. He also claimed that the defeat of the outgoing Prime Minister and his Godse devotee colleagues is certain.

पता नहीं निवर्तमान प्रधानमंत्री कौन सी दुनिया में रहते हैं जहां 1982 से पहले महात्मा गांधी दुनिया भर में नहीं माने जाते थे।

यदि किसी ने महात्मा की विरासत को नष्ट किया है तो वह स्वयं निवर्तमान प्रधानमंत्री ही हैं। वाराणसी, दिल्ली और अहमदाबाद में उनकी ही सरकार ने गांधीवादी…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 29, 2024