Gujarat minister attacks Congress with 'rich PM of poor country' jibe at Nehru

Gandhinagar: Gujarat minister Balvantsinh Rajput on Thursday attacked the opposition Congress by claiming India could not achieve desired growth initially because a poor country got a rich prime minister after Independence.

Without taking the name of Jawaharlal Nehru, the state industries, labour and employment minister claimed in the House that the first PM's clothes were sent abroad for cleaning.

Rajput made the remarks during his speech on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address on February 19, which was the first day of the ongoing Budget Session. "The situation that emerged after our nation gained Independence in 1947 was different from the vision of our freedom fighters. It happened because a poor country got a rich prime minister. As a result, India could not achieve desired growth after Independence. It is said that his clothes were sent to a foreign country for cleaning," Rajput said.


"When buying a bicycle was a dream for most countrymen, he used to travel by air. People believed that if the PM had been like them, the state of the nation would have been different. The tradition of dynasty politics continued even after the former PM's death," he added.

When India was supposed to taste the fruits of development, it only received poverty, mainly because of corruption during previous governments, Rajput said in the assembly.

"A late PM had admitted that only 15 paisa out of Re 1 allocated by the government reached the beneficiary. It proved that there was corruption of 85 paisa," the minister claimed.

Rajput hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the latter, as Gujarat chief minister, made the state a model for the country with several initiatives.