On the occasion of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru‘s birth anniversary on Tuesday (14th November), Congress MP KC Venugopal sang praises of the leader saying that he was the one who built a ‘modern India’. He said that before Nehru took over the regime, India was struggling with industrial growth and that Nehru was the one who boosted the industrial and manufacturing sector in India post-independence.
“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is the architect of modern India. When he took over the reins of India’s destiny, not a pin was manufactured in India. But instead of blaming the past, cursing his predecessors, and making excuses, he rolled up his sleeves and built our modern republic,” KC Venugopal said on Twitter.
The leader was so engrossed in praising Nehru on his birth anniversary that he falsely credited the latter for executing several developmental strides be it through PSUs, the Green Revolution, or modern educational institutions. “In a neighborhood where ethnic conflict and authoritarian rule is commonplace when many in the West doubted whether we would survive as a democratic and secular republic, it was Nehru ji’s efforts of building a democratic ethos that stood the test of time. Today, as India is in a difficult place with a fascist regime in power in New Delhi, it is Nehru’s path that we must always walk on,” the MP added.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is the architect of modern India. When he took over the reigns of India’s destiny, not a pin was manufactured in India. But instead of blaming the past, cursing his predecessors and making excuses, he rolled up his sleeves and built our modern republic.… pic.twitter.com/27gLhBNc26
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) November 14, 2023
The post written by Congress MP KC Venugopal was, however, criticized by several netizens who said that crediting Nehru for the things he has not done was inappropriate. One of the users mentioned that Nehru was never the architect of India, instead, he was the architect of the license-quota Raj that stifled entrepreneurship and encouraged crony capitalism.
“Nehru was the architect of license-quota Raj that stifled entrepreneurship & encouraged crony capitalism India was the richest country in Asia in 1947 after the War By 1964, India was left behind by others in Asia & by 1980 poorer than others, all due to Nehru’s PanchBhool policies (5-year plans),” the user added.
Nehru was architect of license-quota Raj that stifled entrepreneurship & encouraged crony capitalism
— PallaviCT (@pallavict) November 15, 2023
India was the richest country in Asia in 1947 after the War
By 1964, India was left behind by others in Asia & by 1980 poorer than others, all due to Nehru’s PanchBhool…
Meanwhile, another user listed several leading industries in India that had been established in the 19th century, like Birla, Tata, Dabur, Britania, Godrej, Bajaj and Dalmia, years before Nehru became the Prime Minister of India for the first time in the year 1947. He said that the industries were leading the economy and that Nehru had hardly done anything to boost industrial growth.
Birla founded 1857
— Niratanka 🇮🇳 (@Niratanka_) November 14, 2023
Tata in 1868
Dabur in 1884
Britannia in 1892
Godrej in 1897
Bajaj group in 1926
Dalmia group in 1930
They all used to play Gilli Danda until Nehru came to power in 1947 & taught manufacturing to them.
Another user pointed out that the Congress MP was giving unnecessary credit to Nehru for bringing the Green Revolution to India. She said that the Green Revolution started and gained momentum in India years after Nehru had died and that the Congress’s 41 years of rule in India had led the country to become almost bankrupt in the 20th century. “His socialist policies screwed our industry and after 41 years of his and his family’s rule India was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1991,” the user was quoted as saying.
Chichajaan
— Swathi Bellam (@BellamSwathi) November 14, 2023
Green revolution came much later after he went to heaven
India’s GDP was 4 % of the world in 1947
It reduced to 3 % in 1965 after 17 years of nehru rule while the rest of Asia was galloping like tigers 🐅
His socialist policies screwed our industry and after 41…
Green Revolution started in India in 1965-66, during the tenure of Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Prime Minister, after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. The modernisation of agriculture was continued during the term of PM Indira Gandhi after Shashtri.
Some users also wished that Nehru should never have become the first, unelected Prime Minister of the country. They said that Nehru has been the root cause of all the problems that are faced by India even today.
Tharki chicha was the root cause of all the problems India faced till the 90’s
— Manta (@mamtan14) November 14, 2023
Including the partition on India
Depriving India at the UN seat
China wars
This Tharki shld be tried for crimes
Wish he was not ‘Chosen’
As India’s 1st PM by a woke Ghandhi
Of course Chacha #Nehru was LEGENDRY Prime Minister of Pakistan ! He rolled up his sleeves and gave up thousands of square kilometres of Indian mainland. https://t.co/iGSdQI3dhf pic.twitter.com/QhlyPk0v9b
— Al Bhagwa (@BeingBhagwa) November 14, 2023
Congis divided India, let the M stay behind even after giving land to them in 1947
— Sima (@Dival1000) November 14, 2023
Gave M power of sharia rules but shackled Hindus with secularism pic.twitter.com/CZT3S8fpDw
Historic blunders of jawahar lal nehru.
— Param|PCS 🇮🇳 (@FunMauji) November 14, 2023
-Kashmir issue , rise of militancy
-India lost 42000 https://t.co/DhmmxDVFI9 land in the Indo-shino war
-Not securing permanent membership of UNSC
-Regional division of terms of linguistics
-Creator of India's economic troubles.
How Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India
Notably, 134 years since his birth, Nehru remains a pertinent, contentious, and frequently mentioned figure in contemporary Indian politics. He was the first, unelected Prime Minister of India and that happened only because of the interference of MK Gandhi. After India gained independence, the Congress party was set to dissolve as its only purpose back then was to liberate India from British rule. Once that goal was accomplished, the organization had no existential purpose.
The dissolution of the party was suggested by Gandhi but his advice was ignored by Nehru. He believed that the Congress party had a brand value and that it could be used for the ‘betterment’ of the country. In the year after the independence, Nehru, Sardar Patel, and Acharya Kripalani were candidates for the internal elections held by the Congress to elect India’s Prime Minister. While Sardar Patel was about to be elected as India’s first Prime Minister, Gandhi interfered and asked him to withdraw from the election, extending support to Nehru. Later Kripalini also withdrew and this is how Nehru became the first, unelected Prime Minister of the independent India.
Later, several Congress leaders including Maulana Azad, C. Rajagopalachari, etc publicly mentioned that it would have been better if Nehru had been asked to be the Foreign Minister and Patel was made the Prime Minister. The following are some of Nehru’s failures as Prime Minister, the consequences of which India suffers to this very day.
Creation of the Kashmir issue
After India’s partition, Pakistan established a tribal militia attack to annex Kashmir. While the Indian army was on track to force the Pakistani intruders out of Kashmir, Nehru walked towards the United Nations, disregarding all the local advice. He thus snatched defeat from the jaws of success. Pakistan continues to claim that the very fact that Nehru had referred to the UN indicates that Kashmir is a disputed territory. The issue is still unresolved and has resulted in significant bloodshed to this day.
Rejected a permanent seat at the UN
To avoid conflict with China, Nehru turned down offers from the United States and the Soviet Union to replace China on the UN Security Council. Having a permanent seat at the UN would have improved India’s global standing. The fact that it was offered without reservations but rejected makes this a disastrous blunder. Notably, Nehru’s goal of cordial relations with China remains unachieved to this day.
43,000 sq km of land captured by China in Aksai Chin
According to classified documents, Nehru’s friendship with China was not reciprocated. China referred to Nehru as a “lackey” of the British and Americans and used derogatory language against India at the United Nations. Nehru misread China’s intentions and did not anticipate Mao’s invasion of India in 1962.
Worse, he allowed his incorrect assumption to have an impact on India’s defense preparedness, breaking a simple life principle of hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Over 3,250 Indian soldiers were killed. In Aksai Chin, India lost approximately 43,000 square kilometers to China. China remains a significant issue for India even today.
Nehru did not implement universal primary education
The first IIT was established by Nehru in the year 1950. Despite the establishment of institutes such as the IIT and IIM during his tenure, Nehru did not prioritize universal literacy and mass education. This is noteworthy given the widespread illiteracy in the country at the time. A lack of education is frequently an impediment to economic and social advancement. According to his biographer Judith Brown, this was his greatest failure.
Notably, till the year 2014, India had only 16 IITs, 9 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and 13 IIMs. However, after the Modi government came into power in the year 2014, 6 new IIT institutes, 16 new IIITs, and 7 new IIMs were established giving a major boost to the promoting and implementation of universal primary education in India.
Favoured socialism
For centuries, India has had a free-market economy based on trade and private enterprise. Nehru, on the other hand, famously stated that “profit is a dirty word.” Nehru followed the Soviet model of economic policies, in which the government ran businesses ranging from industries to hotels. Taxes were high to ensure that ordinary citizens had little wealth and were reliant on the state. The entrepreneurial spirit was also discouraged.
These policies increased income inequality and supported crony capitalism. They were also responsible for poisoning the minds of ordinary Indians, leading them to believe that entrepreneurs were immoral. It also resulted in the demonization of wealth and success.
Rejected Nepal’s and Balochistan’s offer to join India
Nehru rejected Nepal’s King Bikram Shah’s offer of making Nepal a province of India. Nehru’s ground for rejection was that Nepal was an
independent nation and must remain so. He also turned down an offer from Mir Ahmadyar Khan, the “King” or Khan of Kalat, for Balochistan to join India. Once again, Nehru failed to recognize the strategic significance of Balochistan, which continues to suffer from severe human rights violations under Pakistan.
Further, some of the claims made by KC Venugopal regarding giving credit to Nehru for the Green Revolution and the manufacturing sector seem dubious as several leading manufacturing companies were established in India years before Nehru became the unelected, first Prime Minister of India. The Birla, now the Aditya Birla Group, a conglomerate company was founded in the year 1857, the Tata Group was founded as a private trading firm in 1868, Dabur India Ltd. in 1884, Britannia in the year 1892, Godrej in 1897 and Bajaj group in 1926, etc.
These companies were a prominent part of the Indian economy back then and continue to rule over the markets even today. KC Venugopal even mentioned that “we owe much of our developmental strides to Nehru that happened through PSUs, Green revolution and modern education.”
Green revolution spanned after Nehru’s death
It is worth noting that in India, the Green Revolution was led by M. S. Swaminathan who was an Indian agronomist and agricultural scientist. Beginning in the mid-20th century, the introduction of new, high-yielding variety seeds into developing countries resulted in a significant increase in food grain production (particularly wheat and rice). The Green Revolution transformed India from a food-deficient country to one of the world’s leading agricultural nations.
Notably, the revolution spanned from year 1967-68 to 1977-78 which was almost three years after Nehru’s death. Jawaharlal Nehru died in the year 1964 and the Green Revolution is said to have spanned from the year 1967. In such circumstances, KC Venugopal crediting Nehru for the things he was hardly any part of is bound to attract criticism.
Jawaharlal Nehru may be remembered as one of the country’s ‘most capable and ablest’ leaders. But his grave mistakes of creating the Kashmir issue, ignoring corruption, abolishing Hindu personal laws, supporting China, rejecting support to Nepal, and Balochistan, opposing the restoration of Somnath Temple, and leading India to bankruptcy by 1991 can never be forgotten.
Therefore, the current Congress praising and lauding Nehru for furthering India’s economic, social, and industrial growth is factually incorrect. Moreover, the Congress leaders at present pledging to walk on the path of Nehru could prove disastrous for India’s future given the upcoming elections scheduled in the year 2024.
