Congress hits out at government over absence of LS Speaker, RS Chairman, ministers at Nehru event in Parliament

Congress on Sunday called "atrocious" the absence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naudu and central ministers at a ceremony in Parliament to mark the birth anniversary of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh and Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal offered floral tributes to Nehru's portrait at an event at the Parliament's Central Hall. Nehru's portrait was unveiled in the Central Hall by then President Dr S Radhakrishnan on 5 May, 1966.

Read | Visionary who laid foundations of modern India: Congress pays tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru

"Extraordinary scene today in Parliament at the traditional function to mark the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn the Central Hall. Speaker Lok Sabha absent. Chairman Rajya Sabha absent. Not a single Minister present. Can it get more atrocious than this?!" Congress Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

He got support from Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O'Brien. "Nothing surprises me anymore. This dispensation is destroying India's great institutions, including Parliament one day at a time," O'Brien tweeted.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi also did not attend the event, he tweeted, "Tributes to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru-ji on his birth anniversary."

Earlier, the government had faced flak for omitting Nehru's photo from the posters made for 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', which is to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence.

Congress paid rich tributes to Nehru with Sonia also offering floral tributes at Shanti Vana in New Delhi.

Also read: PM Modi pays tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi posted a quote of Nehru -- "What we need is a generation of peace" on Twitter while Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid a tribute to Nehru and hailed the contribution of farmers, soldiers and labourers while remembering India's first prime minister.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he played a major role in making India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal tweeted, "we are the children of our Republic he cherished and nourished. He built institutions of the future. He celebrated diversity, which is our strength. We should worry that what he stood for is slowly being demolished!" he said.

On its official Twitter handle, Congress paid rich tributes to Nehru saying, "a hero of our freedom movement, a visionary who laid the foundations of modern India, a nationalist who stood fearlessly to protect India's interests, an inspirational human who transformed the thought of generations, Pandit Nehru was a true son of Bharat Mata."

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