Sonia Gandhi accuses BJP of "vilifying" Nehru's legacy, says "systematic attempt being made to defame him"

New Delhi [India], December 6 (ANI): Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi lashed out at attempts to "distort and demean" former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy, calling it a "systematic attempt" to rewrite history and destroy the nation's foundations.
Accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "vilifying" the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi claimed that their goal is to "destroy the social, political, and economic foundations" of the country.
" Let there be no doubt whatsoever that the project to vilify Jawaharlal Nehru is the main objective of the ruling establishment today. Their goal is not just to erase him, it is to actually destroy the social, political, and economic foundations on which our nation has been founded and built," she said while speaking at the launch of the Nehru Centre India at Jawahar Bhawan in the national capital on Friday.
The Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson said, "While we welcome ongoing analysis of his (former PM Jawaharlal Nehru) contributions, what is not acceptable is the systematic attempt being made to denigrate, distort, demean and defame him. The sole objective of this is not only to diminish him as a personality, his universally recognised role in India's independence struggle and his early decades as a leader of an independent nation challenged by unprecedented problems, but it is also to demolish his multifaceted legacy in a self-serving attempt to rewrite history."
She linked these attempts to ideologies that opposed India's freedom movement and Constitution, saying that they were driven by a "bigoted and viciously communal outlook".
Gandhi stated, "Analysis is one thing, but deliberate mischief with what he said, what he wrote and what he did is another thing and totally unacceptable. Who are the forces that have launched this project? They belong to the ideology that had no role in our freedom movement, the making of our Constitution."
"In fact, they even burnt it and were totally against it. It is an ideology that long ago fanned an atmosphere of hate that ultimately led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. His killers today continue to be glorified by its adherents. It is an ideology which has consistently rejected the ideals of our founding fathers; it is an ideology with a bigoted and viciously communal outlook. Its approach to nationhood is based on stoking prejudices of all kinds," she added.
The Congress leader urged citizens to stand up against this "project" and protect India's values and heritage.
" The road ahead is not easy. But there is simply no option but for each of us, individually and collectively - to stand up and confront this project. We not only owe this to the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru and his comrades; we owe it to ourselves and even more to coming generations," she affirmed. (ANI)