New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a veiled attack on Former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru saying that Sardar Patel resolved issues of the merger of other princely states, but “one person” could not resolve the Kashmir issue, as reported by news agency PTI. While addressing a rally in Gujarat's Anand ahead of Assembly elections due this year-end, PM said he was able to resolve the long-pending Kashmir issue as he is walking in the footsteps of Sardar Patel.
“Sardar saheb persuaded all the princely states to merge with India. But another person handled this one issue of Kashmir,” Modi said, without naming India’s first prime minister.
“As I am following the footsteps of Sardar saheb, I have values of the land of Sardar and that was the reason I resolved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tributes to Sardar Patel,” Modi said.
The PM is on a three-day visit to Gujarat from Sunday, ahead of the Assembly polls due in the BJP-ruled state later this year.
He said, "When I became Gujarat CM, I did not have much experience in administration. However, we are fortunate in that CM Bhupendra Patel has over 25 years of experience ranging from panchayat to assembly.
Addressing a gathering in Anand in his home state Gujarat, PM Modi accused 'urban Naxals' (a term frequently used by the saffron camp to describe dissenters) of having wasted more than 40 years before the construction of the Sardar Patel's dream project on the Narmada river could ahead.
Modi said, “Due to Urban Naxals, we wasted 40-50 years of time before the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river. Today after various efforts, the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam has been completed.”