Modi makes no mention of Nehru

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and several other leaders of the struggle for independence, but did not mention the name of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the 1942 “Quit India Movement”, Modi recalled the role played by Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Jai Prakash Narain, Sukhdev, Bhagat Singh, Ram Manohar Lohia and Lal Bahadur Shastri in leading the nation’s struggle for independence.

He said that when Mahatma Gandhi and other senior leaders had been imprisoned by the British Raj in the beginning of the Quit India movement of August 1942, the younger lot had filled in the vaccuum.

Modi said that while the struggle for independence had once appeared to be a movement by the elites, the Quit India movement of 1942 had seen new leaders emerging from the masses as the people of all sections of the society had joined the stir against the British Raj.

He, however, did not mention the name of Nehru, who had also been imprisoned by the British Raj in the early days of the Quit India movement in August 1942.

Nehru’s role was recalled by Congress president Sonia Gandhi who spoke in the Lok Sabha shortly after the prime minister. She recalled that the Quit India resolution adopted by the Indian National Congress on August 8, 1942 had been proposed by Nehru and supported by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.