Congress calls Centre's claims about 'Sengol' 'bogus,' Amit Shah reacts

Home Minister Amit Shah has accused the Congress of demeaning the "symbol of India's freedom" after the party on Friday questioned the central government's claims that the scepter "Sengol" represents the transfer of power. In a tweet earlier, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh termed the assertions "bogus" and a "false narrative spread through WhatsApp University" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to install the "Sengol" inside the new Parliament building on the occasion of its opening event on Sunday.
• On Wednesday, Shah called "Sengol" a "symbol of power transfer," and said it will be put near the Lok Sabha Speaker's seat.
• The Congress, which is already opposed to PM Modi inaugurating the new Parliament, has added a fresh objection.

Questioning the claims regarding the "Sengol," Ramesh asked if the new Parliament is being inaugurated with typically "false narratives from the WhatsApp University." "The BJP/RSS Distorians stand exposed again with Maximum Claims, Minimum Evidence." "There is no documented evidence whatsoever of Mountbatten, Rajaji (C Rajagopalachari), and (Jawaharlal) Nehru describing this scepter as a symbol of the transfer of British power to India," he tweeted.

"All claims to this effect are plain and simple—BOGUS. Wholly and completely manufactured in the minds of a few and dispersed into WhatsApp, and now to the drum-beaters in the media. Two of the finest Rajaji scholars with impeccable credentials have expressed surprise," he said.

Soon after, Shah reacted sharply to the remarks by Congress. "Why does the Congress party hate Indian traditions and culture so much?" he questioned in a tweet. Shah also claimed that the "Sengol" was given to Jawaharlal Nehru by a holy Saivite Mutt from Tamil Nadu to symbolize India's freedom, but it was banished to a museum as a "walking stick."

Reportedly, when India was about to get independence, Lord Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy of India, asked then-to-be Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru about the ceremony that should be followed to symbolize the transfer of power. Nehru consulted C Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India, who suggested the Chola model of transferring power by handing over "Sengol."