Politician who knew no discord: Rajnath recalls former UP CM Chandra Bhanu Gupta

Lucknow, Jul 13 (PTI) BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Sunday recalled how former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Chandra Bhanu Gupta once prepared a feast for the very people protesting against him.

Singh related the story while speaking at a function at the National PG College in Lucknow, where he unveiled a statue of Chandra Bhanu Gupta and released a postage stamp.

"Friends, I want to share another incident related to Chandra Bhanu Gupta ji with you all … When he was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, about 10,000 people were protesting against him. Chandra Shekhar ji, a former prime minister, was also among them. All these people did not have any arrangement for food.

"Chandra Bhanu Gupta ji knew that all of them were hungry. So, he immediately arranged food for all the protesters. He made poori and saag. That means in a healthy democratic system, there should be respect for the opposition as well," Singh said.

He added, "We also get the message that there may be differences in politics, but there should not be any differences of heart." Singh, the Lok Sabha MP from Lucknow said Chandra Bhanu Gupta never made politics a business, but made it a medium of service.

"This was the reason why he always remained very popular among the people of Uttar Pradesh," he said.

The defence minister also recalled the time when the four-time UP chief minister got the film 'Hamara Sansar' tax-free because it spoke about the plight of the farmers.

"After he saw the film Hamara Sansar … he spoke to then-chief minister Sucheta Kriplani and got the film tax-free," Singh said.

He said that in 1960, when he was asked who should be the chief minister of UP, he proposed several names, but his, in line with his dignified conduct.

"Nowadays, the situation is such that people do not hesitate even a bit to cross all the decorum to get to the chair," Singh added. PTI NAV VN VN