New Delhi: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, in response to a tweet by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, said that Jawaharlal Nehru delayed Kashmir’s accession to India and not Maharaja Hari Singh.

Maharaja Hari Singh dithered on accession. There were dreams of independence

The Twitter spat began when Jairam Ramesh, who is Congress’ general secretary in-charge of communication, shared a series of tweets on Kashmir’s accession to India.

He said, “Maharaja Hari Singh dithered on accession. There were dreams of independence. But when Pakistan invaded, Hari Singh acceded to India. Sheikh Abdullah [who was later elected as the first chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir] championed accession to India entirely because of his friendship with and admiration for Nehru, and his respect for Gandhi. Sardar Patel was okay with J&K joining Pakistan till September 13 1947, when the Nawab of Junagadh acceded to Pakistan.”

This came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a rally in Gujarat, said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel resolved issues of merger of other princely states, but “one person” could not resolve the Kashmir issue, in an indirect reference to Jawaharlal Nehru.

Responding to Jairam Ramesh’s tweet, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said,”The first time Maharaja Hari Singh approached Nehru for accession to India was July 1947 itself, a full month before Independence. It was Nehru who rebuffed the Maharaja. Other states were accepted. Kashmir was rejected,” Rijiju said, adding that the “historic lie” of Maharaja Hari Singh dithering on question of accession has gone for too long.

“Not only did Nehru reject Maharaja Hari Singh’s request for accession in July 1947, but Nehru was dithering in October 1947 as well. This was when Pakistani invaders had reached within kilometers of Srinagar,” he added.

“Nehru conjured up some ‘special’ case for Kashmir and wanted ‘much more’ than mere accession. What was that special case? Vote bank politics?” he further asked, claiming that India is still paying the price for Nehru’s follies.