“So Much About Nehru, Why Not Use His Surname?” PM’s Dig At Gandhis

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a new attack on the Gandhis, questioned why none of them used the name “Nehru” after Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister.

“If we miss out on mentioning Nehru anywhere, they (Congress) get upset. Nehru was such a great person, then why does none of them use the Nehru surname. What is the shame in using the Nehru name,” PM Modi questioned in Rajya Sabha, replying to a debate on the President’s speech.

“This country is not the property of any family.”

Jawaharlal Nehru is the great-grandfather of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has accused PM Modi of crony capitalism amid allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, which is in the spotlight after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged stocks manipulation and accounting fraud by the group.

PM Modi spoke amid loud and unrelenting “probe Adani” chants by the opposition.

In a searing, direct attack on the Congress and its prime ministers, PM Modi accused the party of glossing over its own controversies.

“They say we trouble states, but they have toppled elected state governments 90 times. One Congress PM used Article 356 fifty times to dismiss elected state governments. That was Indira Gandhi,” the Prime Minister said.

In an apparent response to the opposition chants targeting him over the Adani Group, PM Modi said the “lotus (BJP’s symbol) will bloom no matter how much mud you throw at us”.

“The conduct and tone of some members is disappointing for the entire country. I will tell such people – Jitna keechad uchhaloge, kamal utna hi khilega (the more mud you throw at us, the more the lotus will bloom). For helping the lotus bloom and flourish, we will thank the opposition,” PM Modi said.

Opposition members protested at the centre of the house, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation into the allegations linked to the Adani Group.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)