Jairam takes dig at PM Modi's visit, cites Nehru's bust at British gallery

Citing former PM Jawaharlal Nehru's bust being displayed at Britain's renovated national portrait gallery, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the 'high-profile' state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States.

He also took a dig at the "Vishwaguru" remarks and accused BJP of having "Nehruphobia".

Taking to Twitter, Jairam Ramesh said, "While President Biden was gifting our Prime Minister a book of Robert Frost's poems, lines from which had found a place on Nehru's desk, the famous bust of Nehru by Jacob Epstein done in the very late 1940s was finding a prominent place in London's National Portrait Gallery that has just reopened".

"Clearly, not everybody shares the Nehruphobia of self-styled Vishwaguru and his drumbeaters," he added.

Notably, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Indian PM to be represented in Britain's renovated national portrait gallery, after his bust, made by the celebrated sculptor Jacob Epstein was displayed there.

On the other hand, during his maiden state visit to the US, among the many gifts that were presented to PM Modi by the first couple - President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden - one notable mention was the signed, first edition copy of 'Collected Poems of Robert Frost'.

Prime Minister Modi was on a state visit to the US from June 21-24, during which he led a special yoga event at the UN Headquarters, held bilateral talks with President Biden at the White House and also addressed the UN Congress.