In a surprising move, Union Minister Suresh Gopi called former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi the “mother of India.” This caused a big stir. However, on Sunday, the Minister of state for Tourism and BJP MP from Kerala, justified his remarks saying that what he meant was that Indira Gandhi is the “mother of the Congress party,” not the entire country.
Gopi said, “For Congress, whether people like it or not, K Karunakaran is the father of the party in Kerala. In India, Indira Gandhi is the mother. I said this from my heart.” He praised the former PM for her work post-independence until her death.
Praise for Indira Gandhi
The BJP leader further continued to praise Indira Gandhi, calling her the “real architect of India post-independence.” He said he cannot forget her contributions, even if she belonged to a rival party.
What did Gopi actually say?
On Saturday, Gopi visited the memorial of K Karunakaran in Thrissur. There, he described Indira Gandhi as the “mother of India” and Karunakaran as a “courageous administrator.”
In addition, Gopi clarified that calling Karunakaran the “father of Congress in Kerala” did not disrespect the founders of Congress in the state. He also mentioned that he considers Karunakaran and Marxist leader E K Nayanar as his “political gurus.”
Recently, Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat. This win was significant because it marked the BJP’s first electoral victory in Kerala. He defeated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate, VS Sunilkumar, by nearly 75,000 votes.