Patna, July 14: The BJP today virtually questioned India's first prime Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's capabilities with a Union minister putting the onus of Kashmir on him.
Speaking at a programme on goods and services tax, Union minister for law and justice Ravi Shankar Prasad said the goal of One Nation, One Tax would be achieved by implementing the GST. He then dug into the country's political history, crediting first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for the political unification of India after Independence in 1947.
Prasad, who holds additional charge of the ministry of information technology, paused briefly before going on to say that while Patel succeeded in bringing 555 states into what was India today, the one state handled by Nehru and its condition are there for everyone to see. He was referring to Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked after the function if it was advisable to question the commitment of a leader like Nehru, who spent around 10 prime years behind bars fighting for Independence from British rule, Prasad said he was not questioning Nehru's commitment. "I have only mentioned a historical fact," Prasad said.
His comment evoked an angry response from Patna-based Gandhian Razi Ahmed, who claimed that by questioning Nehru's abilities the BJP was only belittling itself. "I think there would be many within the BJP who would not like the idea of questioning Nehru," Ahmed said.
A postgraduate of history from Patna University, Ahmed said: "The BJP is trying hard to prove India's history wrong, but no one can change it. Also, the BJP should not forget that Sardar Patel was a Congress leader and never parted ways from the party Pandit ji belonged to."
Prasad also mentioned another former prime minister to try and draw a contrast with his own government.
During a visit to Odisha in 1985, Rajiv Gandhi had said: "Of every rupee spent by the government, only 17 paise reached the beneficiary." During Narendra Modi's regime, Prasad said, if the government sends Rs 100 to beneficiaries, the whole amount reaches them.
Direct benefit transfer had checked leak in funds transfer to beneficiaries, Prasad said, adding that the Centre had this way saved around Rs 50,000 crore in the past three years.
