Cong flays PM Modi for ‘vicious’ attack on Nehru

The Congress on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of suffering from deep insecurities and complexes, saying this makes him “viciously” attack Jawaharlal Nehru.

A day after Modi attacked former Prime Ministers Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said BJP veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani never did this, but PM Modi by doing so is “demeaning” the high office he holds.

“The Prime Minister was at his nonsensical worst in the Lok Sabha yesterday and undoubtedly will stage a repeat performance in the Rajya Sabha today,” he said in a post on X.

“He suffers from deep insecurities and complexes which makes him attack Nehru not politically, but personally in a vicious manner,” Ramesh charged.

“Vajpayee and Advani never did this. But Modi being who he is, thinks he is being clever but actually demeans the office he holds. Megalomania and Nehruphobia are a toxic mix that is leading to the Murder Of Democracy in India,” the Congress leader also said.

He said the people of India, especially the youth, have decided that “this will be Mr. Modi’s last speech in Lok Sabha as Prime Minister”.

“Das Saal Anyay Kaal will soon come to an end,” Ramesh said.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “misrepresenting” lines from a speech of Jawaharlal Nehru and said not only is this “shameful” but it also shows the “bitterness” in the minds of the BJP towards the freedom movement and historical struggles for nation building.

In his reply to the debate in Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address on Monday, Modi made repeated attacks on Nehru, claiming the Congress leader thought Indians were lazy and of low intelligence.

Modi’s nearly 100-minute speech was laced with sharp attacks on the Congress and the Gandhi family, and he said the party “never trusted India’s potential”.

Hitting back at Modi, Priyanka Gandhi said, “Did Pandit Nehru, the guardian of India’s consciousness, consider Indians lazy? Yesterday in the temple of democracy, Parliament, Prime Minister Modi made this very allegation against Pandit Nehru. Is there any truth in this?”

Before thinking anything, read and listen to that speech of Nehru, she said and shared the audio recording of the speech and the Hindi quote from it.

“Our people, forgetting to trust themselves, think that other people will help them. Our village people are strong and nice. It has become a habit that instead of taking matters in their own hands they lean on officers and the government...

Communities don’t progress with the help of officers, they progress on their own strength.

“The only yardstick to measure progress is how 40 crore people of India move forward. The community grows through its hard work,” Nehru is heard saying in the audio recording.

“Look at the countries that are happy and prosperous, how did they become prosperous -- through hard work. Be it European nations or American or Asian countries that are prosperous, it is hard work and unity behind their prosperity. Without these attributes progress cannot be made...In our India, generally the habit of working very hard has not been developed. It is not our fault, habits are formed due to circumstances,” Nehru had said.