Disturbing that PM did not mention Nehru in I-Day speech: Sharad Pawar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s failure to mention the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s name in his Independence Day speech was “disturbing”, according to veteran Maharashtra politician and Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Pawar, who heads his own faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.

“I heard the Prime Minister’s speech from the Red Fort. It was very disturbing that he did not mention Nehru in his entire speech… Nehru gave important years of his youth to the freedom struggle of India. After Independence, he led the country and spread the message of peace worldwide. Even after his immense contribution, his name was not taken by the Prime Minister, which was unfortunate,” the NCP(SP) leader said during an event in Pune.

‘Fight to save democracy’

On the Opposition protest against the Election Commission, Mr. Pawar said, “The present situation of politics is challenging. It has been 14 days that the Parliament session is going on, but the House has not functioned even for a day. We sign and enter Parliament only to witness it getting adjourned after a ruckus. It is not a healthy sign for democracy.”

He added that this was the first time 300 MPs had come together for a peaceful protest. “It included [Congress leaders] Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and members from other parties as well, but we were detained and taken to the police station. The fight is to save democracy. If those in the government do not find it important, then we, as Opposition, will have to keep raising our voice,” he said.

A history lesson on choosing unity

Mr. Pawar, who served multiple terms as Maharashtra Chief Minister while he was a Congressman, recalled how that party had once prioritised unity for ideological reasons.

After the Emergency, the grand old party had split into the Congress (Indira) and the Swarn Singh Congress. At the time, Mr. Pawar had remained in the Swarn Singh Congress with his mentor Yashwantrao Chavan, but neither side had a clear majority in the elections that followed

“Eventually, we came together and made Vasantdada [Patil] the Chief Minister. However, many of us young workers had a resentment against Congress (I), since we were aligned with Chavan saheb. So there was a gap. Dada tried to bridge it, but we opposed it,” Mr. Pawar said. “I was among the key opponents. As a result, we decided to bring down the government and we did. I became the Chief Minister,” he added.

Ten years later, the factions had reunited. When a meeting was called to decide the next CM, many names were discussed, including Ramrao Adik and Shivajirao Nilangekar, before Mr. Pawar was chosen.

“Imagine the same leader whose government I brought down, put all that aside and chose unity for ideology. That was the kind of large-hearted leadership we had in the Congress,” the former CM said.