Thiruvananthapuram, January 18: Historian Ramachandra Guha on Saturday issued a clarification over his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which he made during literature festival in Kerala. Guha issued the clarification through a series of tweets. He said that he was sorry that a reporter has cherry-picked two sentences out of a one hour talk. He also said that he did say in my KLF talk that Rahul Gandhi was a "fifth-generation dynast", but I said much, much, more. Anti-CAA Protests: Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Historian Ramchandra Guha Among Scores Detained.

In one of his tweets, he said, “My talk was a defence of constitutional patriotism against Hindutva jingoism. I am sorry that a reporter has cherry-picked two sentences out of a one hour talk to distort its meaning.” In an apparent dig at the Congress, Guha said that he believed that the countrywide movement against Hindutva was handicapped by the fact that the party of the freedom movement was so closely controlled by a single-family. Hypocrisy of Indian Left Reason Behind Rise of Hindutva, Says Ramachandra Guha.

Ramchandra Guha's Tweet:

In another tweet, he said, “I ended my KLF talk by saying that even if the Congress may not be up to the task, ordinary citizens will carry on the struggle in defence of constitutional values. As they have done so admirably in the protests against the CAA.”

Guha's Tweet:

On Friday, during his “Patriotism vs Jingoism” at the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), Guha launched a scathing attack on Gandhi. “I have nothing against Rahul Gandhi personally. He is a decent fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast. If you Malayalis make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are merely handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi,” reported news agency PTI quoting Guha as saying. He also said that people of Waynad did a “disastrous thing” by electing Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 18, 2020 06:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).