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Some in the BJP believe Leftist academicians and intellectuals appropriated Nehru’s socio-political and economic legacy. They think Nehru, after his death, was projected solely as a secular atheist leader without his Pandit (Brahmin) context, which needs to be redressed.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said it was “high time that scholars and research organisations should do extensive research on Nehruji’s work and all Nehru papers be made available.”
"Although Pandit Nehru highly appreciated ideas of Communism, Socialism and other ideologies but he also understood its limitations,” the Home Minister tweeted after inaugurating the commemorative ceremony to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Nehru at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi.
Singh said this was the reason why Nehru “adopted the path of ‘mixed economy’ to address the problems facing the country those days.” He also extolled Nehru’s contribution as a “builder of modern India” and granting universal adult suffrage to his countrymen.
“Certain forces wish to create a sense of fear in sections of our society but they should work to instill a sense of confidence in people,” Singh said. The Home Minister, a one-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer, said that “One can have differences over Nehru ji's policies but his integrity, his contribution and his love for the country was unquestionable.”
His tweets were met by scorn by many of his followers, some of whom in their replies accused him of speaking in the ‘Congress tongue’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently in Brisbane for the G-20 summit, spent the morning with students of Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
“Today we mark the 125th birth anniversary of our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. My tributes to him. We remember Pandit Nehru's efforts during the freedom struggle and his role as the first Prime Minister of India,” the Prime Minister tweeted. “I wrote on the selfie with my young friends at QUT...Today is 14th November, Pandit Nehru's birthday. My good wishes to children,” the social media-savvy Modi tweeted.
The BJP leadership’s newfound love for Nehru is in stark contrast to April 2014 when its manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections didn’t find any space for Nehru. “Indian freedom struggle, which was inspired by Tilak, Gandhi, Aurobindo, Patel, Bose and others, had a clear vision of the civilizational consciousness of India,” the foreword of the manifesto stated.
Without naming Nehru or anyone else, it went on to accuse “the leaders at the helm of affairs” immediately after independence to have “lost the spirit and the vision, which the freedom movement had evoked” and called it “unfortunate” that these leaders adopted the administration created by the British.
In the run-up to the elections, and even after it, Modi was often termed anti-Nehru. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) believes Modi’s is the first government that can undo the legacy of Nehruvian years, as Sangh leaders consider even Atal Bihari Vajpayee a Nehruvian. Modi’s extolling of Sardar Patel, including initiating construction of the Statue of Unity in the run up to the elections, is also seen as an effort to diminish Nehru.
But much of that changed in mid-October. Modi, while campaigning for assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, announced that Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary will be commemorated by his government as a day to impart the importance of cleanliness to school students. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) followed this up by reconstituting the committee to commemorate the anniversary. The new committee didn’t include anyone from the Gandhi family.
The BJP’s assessment, as party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain earlier this week said, is that Congress has by not inviting Modi to its functions to mark Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary come across as “petty”, while their government by honouring India’s first PM has everything to gain in the public consciousness.
