Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru has once again attracted the attention of BJP in Madhya Pradesh. This time, a minister has charged former prime minister with using state plane to call for his favourite pack of cigarettes.
State medical education minister Vishwas Sarang said that he has taken the reference from the official website of Raj Bhawan. “We had only heard that Nehru’s clothes were sent to France for drycleaning. Here is a new revelation. It is mentioned in the website that during his visit to Bhopal, Nehru had sent the state plane to Indore to bring his favourite pack of cigarette - 555,” said Sarang.
“India was a poor country then and using state machinery to satisfy luxurious needs demonstrates the autocratic mindset of Nehru family,” he added.
However, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee has termed it as an attention diverting tactics of BJP. “It is written in the USA that special arrangements were made to bring prawns and special brand of alcohol for Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Does it mean that Vajpayee was characterless etc, etc?” Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta demanded to know.
Gupta also questioned minister’s wisdom and said he does not understand the protocol described for people on post. Moreover, the anecdote mentioned on Raj Bhawan website does not mention that Nehru ordered the state plane to call for cigarettes. “The source of anecdote is also not mentioned,” he added.
It clearly says that Raj Bhawan staff realised that the favourite pack of 555 cigarettes was not available at Raj Bhawan. “The staff immediately sent a plane to Indore for air lifting cigarette pack that was kept ready at Indore airport,” Gupta added.
