In its battle to take on the NDA Government over the legacy of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress has organised a series of programmes to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary.
The party has organised a mega event at Talkatora stadium followed by a memorial service at Shantivan and other cultural programmes. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi along with former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is also the chairman of the committee that will oversee the year-long celebrations of Nehru birth anniversary, will administer the pledge to party workers at Talkatora stadium to protect his values and vision.
According to Congress legislative Party leader Harun Yusuf, the party is going to organise a mega function at Talkatora stadium to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Nehru on Thursday. Sonia and Rahul will address the party workers at the function that is being seen a kickstart of the election campaigning for the upcoming Assembly elections in the national Capital. According to party sources, welcome speech would be delivered by Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh lovely while vote on thanks by Congress legislative Party leader Harun Yusuf.
On Friday (November 14), the party has organised a function at Nehru’s Samadhi at Shanti Van around 8 am which would be attended by Sonia and Rahul. They would pay tribute to Pandit Nehru. Senior party leaders, including Delhi Congress, leaders are expected to be present on the occasion. At the evening, a function has been organised at House lounge of Teen Murti Bhawan. President of India Pranab Mukherjee would be chief guest of the function.
An international conference is also lined up on November 17-18 at the Vigyan Bhavan in which foreign dignitaries and delegations of political parties will reflect on Nehru’s worldview and legacy in the context of contemporary global challenges. The Congress is said to be miffed at Modi’s plans to dismantle the legacy of Nehru and the Prime Minister’s attempts to appropriate the legacy of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel.
The Modi Government is in the process of winding up the Planning Commission, a symbol of Nehru’s socialist approach to economic development, and is working on privatising some public sector units set up during his reign. The Congress is also angry that Modi chose to observe Patel’s birth anniversary on October 31 as National Unity Day with much fanfare but ignored the martyrdom of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was killed by her bodyguards on that date in 1984.