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Taking exception to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudarshan's glowing remarks on Indira Gandhi, National Democratic Alliance convenor George Fernandes on Tuesday wrote to him saying any appreciation of the late prime minister amounted to 'endorsement of dictatorship'.
"I was shocked to read your statement that the RSS admired Indira Gandhi, though you are right when you say that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was responsible for all problems facing the country," Fernandes, who heads the Janata Dal-United, said.
Fernandes said, "After knowing that she (Indira) chose to be a dictator only to remain in power when the people were against her rule, hailing her prime ministership will mean an endorsement of dictatorship."
He wondered how the RSS could admire a person who went to the extent of saying that her 'emergency rule' meant that even the right to life had been withdrawn, 'as Hitler had done in Germany'.
Making a scathing attack on the late leader and the Nehru-Gandhi family, Fernandes alleged, "The corruption she (Indira) injected into our polity made me call her bhrashtachar ki gangotri (fountainhead of corruption) inside and outside Parliament."