Chennai, (Samajweekly) Expressing displeasure over the Congress’ stance on Sengol — the sceptre that will be placed in the new Parliament building in the national capital, the pontiff of a Tamil Nadu ‘math’ on Friday said “this is the same Sengol which was given in 1947 to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and it is the pride of Tamil Nadu”.
Earlier, on Friday, the Congress hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for spreading “false narrative” about “Sengol”, saying that there is no documented evidence of Lord Mountbatten, C. Rajagopalachari and Jawaharlal Nehru describing this “as the symbol of transfer of British power to India” and all claims to this effect are plain and simply “bogus”.
Speaking to reporters, the pontiff of Thiruvavuduthurai Adheenam (math), said: “We are disappointed by the lies that are being spread by some people. This is a great pride for Tamil Nadu. The Sengol went from Thiruvavuduthurai Adheenam, from Chola Nadu.
“On May 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the Sengol once again. It will be installed in the new parliament building. We are happy. We have been invited to Delhi, and we will be going there,” he said.
The Thiruvavuduthurai Adheenam pontiff further said the same Sengol was kept hidden for many years.
“Now, it is being brought back to the limelight. We were informed 1-2 months ago about the inauguration of the new Parliament. They asked us to come and told us that Sengol would be installed,” he said.
“Sengol was given to the late PM Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 by the Adheenam. Rajaji (C Rajagopalachari) was asked how to symbolise freedom and India’s Independence. At that time, our chief pontiff had asked Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers to make the Sengol,” the Thiruvavuduthurai Adheenam pontiff said.
“The Sengol was sent in a flight to Delhi and it was given to Lord Mountbatten. It was later handed over to then PM Nehru by Adheenam pontiffs,” he added.
“We have pictures to show how the Sengol was handed over. Some people are spreading wrong information. In 1947, many English newspapers reported about it. The pictures are enough for evidence,” he said.
