Ruling party’s ‘erase Nehru legacy’ campaign aims to undermine India’s foundations, says Congress leader
NEW DELHI — Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday warned against attempts to “vilify and erase” Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy, saying these were part of a larger design aimed at “destroying the social, political and economic foundations” on which our nation has been founded and built.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch of the Nehru Centre India at Jawahar Bhavan, she recounted Nehru’s role as the chief architect of the modern Indian nation-state, his faith in parliamentary democracy, secularism, scientific temper and planned economic development—principles she said continue to shape India’s present.
Mrs Gandhi said groups involved in the attack on Nehru subscribe to an ideology that “had no role in the freedom movement or in drafting the Constitution” and one that “fanned hatred leading to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination”. She asserted that a “bigoted and communal outlook” drives these forces and alleged that the ruling establishment is leading a systematic campaign to distort denigrate, demean and defame Nehru. The objective of this is to demolish his multi-faceted legacy in a crude and self-serving attempt to rewrite history.
She called for a collective pushback, urging citizens to “stand up and confront” what she described as deliberate historical misinterpretation and propaganda. The defence of Nehru’s legacy, she emphasised, is not an act of nostalgia but a commitment to reclaiming India’s constitutional vision, rational discourse and modern character.
The CPP Chairperson said the diminishing space for tolerance, rising hostility towards dissent, and the politicisation of history make Nehru’s example especially relevant today. He exemplified, she said, a democratic temperament that viewed disagreement as democratic necessity and celebrated India’s diversity as its strength.
She noted that the recently launched digital archive of Nehru’s Selected Works by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund provides open, searchable access to 100 published volumes from 1903 to the day before his death, with more material to be added.
Mrs Gandhi commended Sandeep Dikshit’s initiative and described it as a necessary effort to “rescue Nehru from a web of deception” and promote fact-based public understanding. Initiatives of this nature, she said, must grow across the country.
