Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anantkumar Hegde called Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggle a ‘drama’, addressing a public event in Bengaluru.

The former Union Minister said that the freedom movement had been ‘staged with the consent and support of the British’, reported ANI.

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," Hegde said.

The BJP Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada also termed Gandhi’s hunger strikes and satyagraha as ‘drama’.

"People supporting Congress keep saying that India got independence because of the fast unto death and satyagraha. This is not true. The British did not leave the country because of satyagraha," he said.

Hegde further questioned how ‘such people’ could be called ‘Mahatma’ in India.

"Britishers gave independence out of frustration. My blood boils when I read history. Such people become Mahatma in our country," he said.

Hegde has made multiple controversial remarks on the opposition in the past. In 2019, he called senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a hybrid specimen, stating that his father is a Muslim and mother is a Christian.