Home Minister Rajnath Singh praises Jawaharlal Nehru; calls him a nation builder

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has showered praise on Jawaharlal Nehru for his contribution to nation-building and his legacy of mixed economy, while stressing on the need to be large-hearted to run a country as diverse as India.

Speaking at Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary celebration at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, he criticised Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his ‘attempts to create a sense of fear’ in the minds of people. After the function, Rajnath told reporters that his comment was in response to Rahul Gandhi’s statement on Thursday accusing BJP of spreading poison.

Rajnath described Nehru as rashtra purush or nation builder and his personality as “virat” or larger-than-life. He said Nehru had no personal rancour against his ideological opponents and had even invited the RSS to be part of the government's food campaign in 1950 and also made the RSS take part in the Republic Day parade of 1963.

Lauding Nehru's leadership role among world nations during the cold war, his scientific temper, and his establishment of institutions of science, the home minister urged politicians does not suffer because of a party’s opposition towards an individual or a group. Taking a dig at the Gandhis, Rajnath pointed out that the democracy Nehru built was not meant to be exclusively a government of the “elites” or of just one family.

“India cannot be ruled with a narrow mind. Nehru understood this fact fully. He had no animosity towards political opponents. Nehru had faith in Indian democracy and that this is not a democracy for the elite only. That is why even his political opponents liked him,” he said.

Recalling a recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajnath said it was Modi who asked that Nehru's 125th birth anniversary be celebrated in a big way.