It was in the very first year of his very first term in 2014 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his governement’s flagship cleanliness programmee the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or the Swachh Bharat Mission on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Five years down the line, the Narendra Modi government 2.0 and the BJP led by chief Amit Shah spearheaded mega events to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma and Ideological fountainhead RSS also pitched in.

The Congress leadership, and that includes Rahul Gandhi, have accused the BJP’s mentor for being “responsible” for Gandhi’s assassination, quoting Sardar Patel’s decision to ban it. The RSS has taken the former Congress chief to the courts for trying to defame it with this narrative.

Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat said: “Gandhiji, who believed in the Swa-based reorganisation of Bharat, firmly stood for social equality and harmony and translated his vision into action, had set an example for all through his life. We must perceive, understand and manifest it in our life.”

While the Congress claims the BJP had been “forced to acknowledge the Mahatma” because the governments led by it kept his legacy alive, Prime Minister Modi and the BJP have, in the past five years, managed to ensure that the man who is respected in India but foreign shores becomes an essential part of its narrative. The NDA government may have changed the names of some UPA programmes christened after Congress leaders, UPA’s flagship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme that was mocked by Modi as the Gujarat Chief Minister continued with bigger allocations when he became the PM.

In the past five years, Modi was seen promoting Gandhi’s legacy, his thoughts, his views on cleanliness and also ‘khadi’, The Prime Minister who normally does not react to untoward statements by party leaders also made the exception when it came to Gandhi. “I will never be able to forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi,” he said reacting to Pragya calling Nathuram Godse, Gandhi’s assassin, a true patriot.