Battle over legacy: Modi pays tribute to Nehru

NEW DELHI: Even as the battle over Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy has escalated between the Congress and the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior Cabinet colleagues on Friday paid tributes to Nehru on his 125th birth anniversary, remembering his efforts during the freedom struggle and his role as the first Prime Minister.
"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," Modi tweeted from Australia.
Modi posed for a selfie with students of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and later tweeted the photograph, with the comment, "I wrote on the selfie with my young friends at QUT...Today is 14th November, Pandit Nehru's birthday. My good wishes to children".
Modi has been accused by the Congress of ignoring Nehru and appropriating the legacy of other leaders of the freedom movement. Congress has not invited Modi to an international conference here next week to mark Nehru's 125th birth anniversary.
BJP has, however, said Congress should not forget that Modi is the Prime Minister of the country and not of any party. By not inviting the Prime Minister, Congress is disrespecting the nation, the party said.
Paying his tribute to Nehru on Children's Day, the home minister Rajnath SIngh said that one could question Nehru's policies but never his intentions. He also stressed that people should refrain from politicizing national icons.
Giving credit to Nehru for his "greatest gift to the nation" in the form of universal adult suffrage, Singh said, "It is because of adult suffrage that a chaiwalla today has become Prime Minister of this country. Nehru gave it to the nation and we have benefited today".
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley also referred to Nehru while speaking at the inauguration of a three-day National children's film festival. He said that apart from the film festival, a big campaign to spread awareness about cleanliness among children in schools was being initiated on the birthday of Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru.