One hundred and fourteen years after the event, Jawaharlal Nehru – who was 22 years old then – stands accused of transferring the capital of British India from the Empire’s Second City, Calcutta, to Delhi.
In a podcast, actor-turned-Trinamool leader-turned-BJP man Rudranil Ghosh has blamed India’s first prime minister for the turn of events from a cold morning in the December of 1911.
“Bengal was the capital of British India. Had it remained so, Bengali, which was a well-known, popular language, would have remained in the same position. Today that spot has been taken by Hindi. The language spoken in the capital becomes the language for commerce and livelihood,” Rudranil said during the podcast.
“Nehru ji knew if the capital remained here the hangover of Netaji [Subhas Chandra Bose], Rabindranath Tagore and others towering over him would be there. So he took away the capital.”
Rudranil, whose political affiliations are alleged to have cost him acting offers in the local film industry, appeared on the podcast streamed three days ago and spoke at length on his political choices, personal life, his idea of secularism, the alleged corruption among the Trinamool rank and file, the chokehold of the federation on the Bengali film industry, his near boycott by producers and directors and other issues for over two hours.
A Left-leaning student once upon a time, the 52-year-old Ghosh had contested unsuccessfully in the 2021 Assembly polls on a BJP ticket from the Bhowanipore Assembly constituency.
Nearly 61 years since Nehru died, India’s first prime minister has not yet been forgotten, at least by his ideological opponents.
On December 12, 1911, a day after the coronation Durbaar (where Nehru's father, Moti Lal, was among the invitees) held in Delhi, King George V formally announced the relocation of British India’s capital from Calcutta (as the city was then known) to Delhi, which had transitioned from the Hindu kings to the Sultanate and Mughals over several centuries.
Six years before King George landed at the Gateway of India in then Bombay, Nehru had his bags packed and sent off to Harrow for his formal schooling. After completing his honours degree from Trinity College, Nehru had moved to London to study law.
There is little to suggest that the student Nehru, occupied with reading law books as well as John Maynard Keynes, Bertrand Russell and George Bernard Shaw, had any opportunity of planting the seeds of the idea in the mind of the future emperor of India. It took another 20 years for the capital to finally move from Calcutta, which had been the seat of British power from the days of the Company, the East India Company.
Ever since Narendra Modi and the BJP entrenched itself into India’s polity 11 years ago, the right-wing has not yet been able to make up its mind on whom to hate more: India’s first prime minister or the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had once used the word “malfeasance” to describe the BJP’s obsession with Nehru.
Over the last decade or so, Nehru’s name has come up in so many speeches and comments made by the ruling party leaders and ministers, be it in Delhi or the BJP-ruled states, keeping count has turned into a full-time statistician’s job.
From current inflation, price rise, unemployment to the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute over Belgavi, the blame has always landed at (should we say) the doors of Teen Murti Bhavan, which served as the official residence of India’s first prime minister till his death in 1964.
The Telegraph Online reached out to several state BJP leaders for a response on why India’s ruling party cannot let Nehru’s ghost rest in peace. Only one responded, with the condition of anonymity.
“Rudranil is a good actor. Actors depend on scriptwriters and directors. I haven’t seen the podcast. If he has asked others to read history, he should himself read it first,” the state BJP leader commented. “Personally I do ask what did Nehru ji do for India? We lost Balochistan, Pakistan, Tibet. Did he have the popular support, even the Congress’ support? Sardar [Vallabhbhai Patel], Netaji had it.”
When asked again why the BJP was so obsessed with Nehru, the leader replied: “Because that is what we got (as our first prime minister).”
The Telegraph Online also asked Rudranil Ghosh himself. His defence: “The capital was shifted from here earlier, but after independence Nehru ji did not take any steps for course correction and make Calcutta the capital again. He was so aligned with the British, he maintained status quo. He could have changed it."