Several Congress leaders paid rich tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru on his 131st birth anniversary, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi saying India's first prime minister was a "towering visionary" who laid the foundation of the country with values of brotherhood, egalitarianism and modern outlook.
Born in 1889, the Congress stalwart remains the country's longest serving prime minister.
"Pt. Nehru was always a strong advocate against the greed of capitalist societies. He believed it was imperative for the State to do everything in its power to uplift the millions of poor & downtrodden citizens," the Congress tweeted using the hashtag 'RememberingNehru'.
"Today, when people are choosing their own facts & even truth is subjective, we as a society must hold onto the teaching of great leaders like Pt. Nehru," it said.
Rahul Gandhi offered floral tributes at Shanti Vana in New Delhi, while Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted on Twitter a quote of her great grandfather from the 'Discovery of India'.
"Today, India celebrates the birth anniversary of its first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji: a towering visionary who laid the foundation of our country with values of brotherhood, egalitarianism & modern outlook," Rahul Gandhi tweeted, lauding the contribution of his great grandfather.
"Our endeavour must be to conserve these values," he said.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor posted pictures after paying tributes to Nehru at Parliament and tweeted: "On Nehruji's 131st birth anniversary, Speaker Om Birla & five faithful Nehruvians (Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jairam Ramesh, Bhupinder Hooda, Rajiv Shukla & I) were the only attendees at the annual Parliament remembrance/pushparchana for our first PM. Sad."
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Nehru was one of the foremost leaders of the freedom movement and also the architect of modern India.
Several other Congress leaders also paid glowing tributes to Nehru.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: "As we celebrate the 131st Birth Anniversary of 'Nation Builder' & India's visionary Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru this Diwali, let's remember his words, that are important more then ever-: 'Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system'.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU