Did 'charkha' force Britishers to leave: BJP

New Delhi : Responding to criticism of lighting lamps and clanging utensils during the lockdown, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha said it was a symbolism and cited the usage during the freedom struggle.

"Many of our friends have a problem with lighting lamps (diyas) and clanging utensils. Did spinning a 'charkha' lead to the British leaving? It was a symbol chosen by Gandhiji. They don't know the history," said Trivedi.

Without taking names, Trivedi criticized Rahul Gandhi by referring to him as "the young leader". The BJP MP said, "The leader claimed that he had tweeted about the intensity of coronavirus early in February. "The Centre was criticised for the 'Namaste Trump' event and for not shutting down the airports earlier, but the young leader was tweeting this from a foreign location and did not initiate any debate in Parliament," he said.

The Congress rose in uproar on this and the Deputy Chairman asked the BJP MP not to divert from the issue.

Sudhanshu Trivedi was speaking in the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Covid situation in the country. The discussion was initiated by Anand Sharma on Wednesday after a statement made by the Union Health Minister a day earlier.

Sharma targeted the government over the imposition of 'sudden' nationwide lockdown and the government claiming it prevented nearly 14 to 29 lakh Covid-19 cases by this. Sharma also attacked the Centre for not having data on the migrant labourers.