CHANDIGARH, NOVEMBER 14 : Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader Ms Kiran Choudhry has asked party legislators and leaders in the state to close their ranks and strengthen the Congress besides taking on such forces as are out to demolish Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy and blur his vision of a liberal and pluralistic India.
Paying rich tributes to the first Prime Minister of India on his 125th birth anniversary, she said, “Let us take a pledge in the name of Nehru to commit ourselves to the ideals of secularism, pluralism and progressiveness espoused by him. The time has come to realize the dreams of Nehru to fight communalism of all hues by becoming a “valiant secular soldier” for protecting the soul of India.”
In a statement issued here on Friday, the four-time Congress legislator and two-time former Haryana Cabinet Minister, said, “The structures of the government and economy, the very ethos and principles which shaped modern India, would have been very different had it not been for Nehru’s vision, his leadership, his undiluted commitment and hard work during our country’s formative years. Right from Bhakra Dam to IITs and IIMs are mere translations of his vision.”
Recalling Nehru’s towering stature intellectually and politically and his thinking to take all along, the CLP Leader said, “His 17 years as Prime Minister were a time when there were sharp ideological differences and even passionate policy disagreements, a time when the course he charted for the newly independent country was often called to question. Yet he reached out to the political spectrum to exchange views and ideas with critics on major issues of the day, never shying away from engaging with his detractors. Even the most bitter of Nehru’s detractors acknowledge that he was free from malice and would welcome criticism and embrace one and all, the rare qualities very few people have.”
Lauding the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and the Vice- President Mr Rahul Gandhi, for their indepth of understanding of the crosscurrents of Indian society and politics, Ms Choudhry said, “They are persons of politics, persons of letters, persons of wisdom and experience – we could think of no more appropriate personalities than them to take the country on the path shown by Nehru.”
Ms Choudhry said that the progressive India we see today would not have been possible without the solid foundations laid under Nehru’s leadership.