In yet another embarrassment for the Congress which must have left the grand old party stunned, former Prime Minister Shastri’s son, Sunil Shastri has heaped praise on PM Modi. Congress leaders had gathered in Agra to meet and greet the late prime minister’s son. However, to their dismay, Sunil Shastri was all praise for PM Modi. He even likened PM Modi to his father, who was a Congress prime minister.
He stated that he was proud to be the son of Lal Bahadur Shastri who never thought about himself but only about his duty towards the country. He added that when his father passed away untimely in Tashkent, he left him and his three brothers one room and one cot, on which all four of them slept. Speaking about his father, Shastri further added that his father was a simple man who believed firmly in making India proud but never thought about making personal gains. Sunil Shastri opined that now PM Modi is working exactly like his father. He further stated that PM Modi is raising the honour of India all over the world and devising comprehensive development schemes within India like ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’. Shastri concluded by remarking that there is absolutely no alternative to PM Modi in today’s time and that the BJP will return to power with record seats.
Sunil Shastri’s comments are made in light of striking similarities between Lal Bahadur Shastri and the present prime minister. Both of them came from a humble background and worked towards making the country proud. Like Lal Bahadur, Prime Minister Modi is also a true patriot who works restlessly towards taking the country forward. Moreover, both of them achieved success in taking country towards a better future. Apart from all of this, both of them challenged the hegemony of the Nehru-Gandhi family in their own ways. While PM Modi has pushed the Congress along with the “royal” family to the margin, Shastri was instrumental in ensuring that Nehru-Gandhi family does not enjoy monopoly over the Congress and the nation. In his days, he represented the ideal that anyone in the country who enjoys popular public support can lead the nation and one does not need to belong to a particular family for that purpose.
There is not an iota of doubt about the fact that Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of the best prime ministers in India’s independent history till date. Only the second prime minister of the country, Shastri assumed the mantle at a time when India had plunged into a crisis in the background of a humiliating defeat in the Sino-India war and acute food shortage. However, Shastri led from the front and not only took out India from the agrarian crisis but also inflicted heavy damage on Pakistan in the 1965 war. The way he led the defence forces which were demoralised after the 1962 war was no less than a miracle. Naturally, his slogan “Jai jawan, jai kisan” (Hail the soldier, hail the farmer) got immortalised along with him.
PM Modi also epitomises hope for a bright future and a strong, developed India. In his own way, Modi has taken out India from the UPA era of policy paralysis, plethora of scams and terror attacks. His strong leadership, sound economic policies and forceful foreign policy has taken India to a new level at the international stage. While India was seen as a nation with a bleak future, it is suddenly seen as the most prominent emerging power around the world.
This is definitely one of the worst nightmares come true for the Congress. However, this was bound to happen. Nehru-Gandhi family and its sycophants have systematically mistreated non Nehru-Gandhi prime ministers, their families and have tried hard to brush their legacy under the carpet. But comparisons have been made about how non Nehru-Gandhi, Congress prime ministers like P.V. Narasimha Rao and Lal Bahadur Shastri were the only high performing prime ministers that the Congress produced. They have been ranked in the past at par with former Prime Minister Vajpayee and the present prime minister. However, such comparisons are now coming right in the mainstream which is bound to give sleepless nights to the Congress, especially to the “family” within the party and its sycophants.
