Must give credit to Modi: he forced Congress leaders to at least remember Nehru, others!

By Rajiv Shah

It was amusing to see Congress reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi omitting the name of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from the names of those who fought for India's freedom. Of all persons, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said, the party "will oppose the wrong statements made on historical facts for political benefits and every attempt to question great national leaders like Gandhi-Nehru-Patel-Azad on the basis of lies.”

Ironic though it may seem, whatever I know of Congress, its leaders or cadres (whatever they are left, now) have paid scant respect to the "Gandhi-Nehru-Patel-Azad" legacy. My visits to Congress office in Ahmedabad as also offices and residences of party leaders has made me firmly believe: they don't care about the foursome Sonia has sought to identify. In fact, visit any of these places, and you will only see photos of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and (now) Priyanka Gandhi -- as if the four towering persons didn't exist.

A visit to the Rajiv Bhawan, the Congress office which the party leaders at one point sought to consider "ominous", and had even worked out plans to shift (going against the rational thinking symbolised by Nehru and rejection of superstition by Gandhi), suggested, the photographs great four Sonia mentions were pushed to a corner. Sonia and Rahul were prominently displayed both outside and inside the building. The leaders would talk only about the family and its great sacrifices, nothing beyond.
Modi may have omitted Nehru's name -- but has at least forced the Congress leaders to remember the person who surely laid the foundation of strong democracy in India. Will the Congress leaders in Ahmedabad care to follow Nehru's rational worldview, Gandhi's non-violent struggle, recognising that he and others stood heads and shoulders above Sonia and Rahul, who are virtual non-entities before the great freedom fighters?
Only future will show...

Photos displayed here, clicked by me in 2018, show Rahul is more prominent in Congress Bhawan than Nehru, Sardar or Ambedkar.

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