The Karnataka government has dropped a lesson on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founder KB Hedgewar from the school syllabus, and has reintroduced an extract on India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

These were among 18 changes made by the government in Kannada and social science textbooks for classes 6 to 10.

The Siddaramaiah-led government reintroduced Nehru’s “Letter To My Daughter” translated by Siddanahalli Krishna Sharma in the Class 8 Kannada textbook. The previous BJP government had deleted the lesson and introduced “Bhoo Kailasa” by Parampalli Narasimha Aithal, which has now been removed from the syllabus.

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The new Karnataka government also deleted a lesson on Hedgewar titled “Who Should Be An Ideal Man” in the Class 10 Kannada textbook. Instead of the chapter on the RSS founder, a lesson titled “Story of Sukumara Swamy” authored by Shivakotacharya has been introduced, according to The Indian Express.

The BJP, while defending the removal of the chapter on Nehru, had said that it was more important for students to know about how to be an ideal man (referring to the lesson on Hedgewar) than what the first prime minister wrote to his daughter Indira Gandhi, also a former prime minister.

The Siddaramaiah-led government has also removed from the syllabus a poem on Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar by KT Gatti.

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Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar supported the removal of the lessons on Hedgewar and Savarkar, saying that it was in accordance with the Congress’ election manifesto, the Deccan Herald reported.

“In the elections, the people [of Karnataka] gave a majority to the Congress,” Pawar said. “This means that its manifesto was accepted by the masses. It’s the responsibility of the government to implement the approved programme and the Karnataka government has started doing it.”

However, Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitin Gadkari said that the removal of the chapters on the RSS founder and Savarkar was unfortunate. “There is nothing more painful than this,” he said, according to ANI.