No official prog to observe Indira Gandhi's death anniv shows NDA's petty mindedness: Congress

NEW DELHI: With government having no plans to observe the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi on October 31, Congress today said that it showed the "petty mindedness" of the Narendra Modi dispensation.

"Indira Gandhi laid down her life for the cause of the country, but there has been no official programme by the government nor AIR, Doordarshan have been given any directions by Prasar Bharti.

"It shows the petty mindedness of this government, its ill intentions," senior party spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters reminding that the government was celebrating the day as birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, the first Home Minister of Independent India.

He said that the "wrong yardsticks" of the government were evident as the RSS chief's address on the Dussehra was telecast live by DD.

The former Union minister also criticised attempts by the Prime Minister to project the hosting of the India-Africa Summit as his achievement. "This is political dishonesty."

He said that the erstwhile UPA Government had set in motion the process way back in 2006.

On the Prime Minister's plans to give jackets and kurtas to the African heads of state, Sharma wanted Modi to tell the visiting dignitaries that these were Nehru jackets named after the first Prime Minister, who was the architect of India's historical linkage with Africa and not Modi jackets.