‘What Has Nehru Done To Hate Him So Much?’: Sanjay Raut Slams Modi Govt’s ‘Narrow Mindset’

Raut said the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education, has excluded the pictures of Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from its poster.

Sanjay Raut (File Photo/ Getty Images)

Mumbai: Launching a vitriolic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the exclusion of Jawaharlal Nehru’s picture from a poster released by a body of the Union Education Ministry to mark the 75th year of India’s independence, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said this shows the Centre’s “narrow mindset” and asked the ruling dispensation why it “hates” the country’s first prime minister so much.

Raut said the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education, has excluded the pictures of Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from its poster.

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Putting forth the views in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Shiv Sena leader alleged that it was an act of “political vindictiveness”.

“Those who had no participation in the freedom struggle and creating history are keeping out one of the heroes of the independence struggle. This act, done out of political vindictiveness, is not good and shows their narrow mindset. It is an insult of each and every freedom fighter,” he said, PTI reported.

 Raut, who is the executive editor of ‘Saamana’, said one can have differences over Nehru’s policies after independence, but no one can deny his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle.

“What has Nehru done to hate him so much? In fact, the institutions he built are now being sold to keep the Indian economy moving,” he said referring to the National Monetisation Pipeline, which was recently announced by the Centre.

The Rajya Sabha MP claimed it was due to Nehru’s “long-term vision” that India was saved from the economic devastation.

Raut in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ showered praises on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin over a recent decision taken by him not to remove pictures of former state chief ministers J. Jayalalithaa and Edapaddi K. Palaniswami from school bags, which were being distributed free to children in the southern state.

“If he (Stalin) can show political maturity, why do you hate Nehru so much? You owe an answer to the nation,” he said without naming the ruling BJP.

Raut further said Prime Minister Modi-led government’s criticism of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was understandable and claimed that the Centre made its hatred public by changing the name of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

“You cannot destroy the immortal contribution of Nehru and (former prime minister) Indira Gandhi in nation-building. Those who deny Nehru’s contributions will be called villains of history,” he said.