'Learn history': Ettayapuram Raja hits back at Rahul over 'Ettappan' jibe

Chandra Chaitanya, the 42nd Raja of Ettayapuram, hit back at Rahul Gandhi for his "21st-century Ettappan" jibe. He urged the Congress leader to learn his family's history of social reform and not use them as "collateral damage" in politics.

Chandra Chaitanya, the titular 42nd Raja of the Ettayapuram Samasthanam, on Sunday hit back at Lok Sabha's Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his reference to "21st-century Ettappan" while criticising those supporting the proposed Delimitation Bill.

Raja Highlights Family's Social Contributions

Responding to Rahul Gandhi's remarks, Chaitanya urged the Lok Sabha LoP to learn about the history of Ettayapuram Samasthanam and said that the royal family had contributed to several social causes. "Firstly, I really sincerely hope that you, Rahul Gandhi, will take a moment to learn about the actual history of Ettayapuram Samasthanam. We were among the earliest people to advocate and campaign for education for girls as early as the late 1800s," Chaitanya said.

We were the first people to implement the midday meal scheme in Tamil Nadu. We were one of the earliest people to involve ourselves in the Temple Entry Movement, which is important for social justice, asserted Ettappan's great-grandson adding that "Despite all this, if somebody is still telling you that we were traitors to anyone--in fact, nobody bearing the name of Ettappan has ever betrayed anyone--and if somebody is still feeding these lines to you, they are only feeding you the script of a movie, which has nothing to do with actual history."

'Get Your Facts Correct'

Calling out Rahul Gandhi over his remarks, he said that statements in the public domain must always be backed by facts. "Secondly, before you make a statement, especially if that is going to involve some sort of a historical reference, ensure that you are getting your facts correct; for us, this undoes the amount of work that we have put into bringing awareness to this false portrayal...do not use us as collateral damage in your political war of words," he said.

Context of Rahul Gandhi's Remark

In Mamallapuram earlier this week, Rahul Gandhi had said that any party which supports delimitation is betraying Tamil Nadu and those in support of it are '21st-century 'Ettappan'. (ANI)

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