Nehru-bashing, a full-time preoccupation for BJP

One hundred and thirty years after his birth, Jawaharlal Nehru is seen as a contentious figure in Indian politics, now more so perhaps than he was in his own time. The BJP’s full-time preoccupation with Nehru has meant that he has become a rallying historical figure representing all that has gone wrong with the ‘Idea of India’. In more than one way, the BJP under Narendra Modi has kept the Nehru story alive simply because he is the perfect foil for what it wants to present as the alternative ‘Idea of India’.

The BJP has not let Nehru fade from public memory and has set itself up in opposition to the spirit of the late prime minister, utilising every opportunity it can find to critique his contribution to India.

Here are the top five instances when Nehru found himself in the crosshairs of the BJP and its top leadership:

Nehru has been a red rag for the BJP when it comes to Kashmir. India’s first PM has been the principal accused in the eyes of the ruling party. Speaking in Parliament in February 2018, during the reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Prime Minister Modi held that the entire Kashmir would have remained with India had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel been the first prime minister, instead of Nehru.

Post the abrogation of Article 370, it was home minister Amit Shah who was scathing on Nehru. "In 1948, India went to the United Nations. That was a Himalayan blunder. It is more than a Himalayan blunder," he said, speaking of Nehru’s contentious decision on the matter.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan speaking in Panaji in August 2019 blamed Nehru for the delay in the liberation of Goa from Portuguese colonial rule. "Just because of the Congress party and Nehru's leadership, Portuguese could continue their rule in Goa for so many years," he said.

Another narrative the BJP has used to undermine the importance of Nehru has to do with Subhash Chandra Bose and how the latter has been ignored by the Congress governments. In 2018, at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the 'Azad Hind Sarkar' by Bose, Modi said that previous governments had tried to obliterate Bose's contribution to the Indian freedom struggle. "But now our government is changing all that," he said.

Modi has also criticised Nehru for opposing the restoration of the Somnath Temple in Gujarat. "If there was no Sardar Patel, the temple in Somnath would not have been possible. Some people are remembering Somnath today and I have to ask them – have you forgotten history? Your parnana (great-grandfather), our first prime minister, was not happy with the idea of a temple being built there," he said at a rally in Gujarat’s Prachi.

The late Arun Jaitley blamed Nehru for backing China’s claim for a seat in the United Nations Security Council over India’s. "The original mistake, both on Kashmir and China, was committed by the same person," said Jaitley, while quoting a letter written by Nehru to chief ministers on Aug. 2, 1955.

Now that Narendra Modi is into his second term as prime minister, it is difficult to imagine that the BJP would be able to extract the same political benefit out of the strategy of targeting Nehru as it did during Modi’s first term in office. However, it looks unlikely that Nehru-bashing will stop anytime soon since it has become an important marker differentiating the current BJP regime and power establishment from the previous Congress and Congress-enabled ones.