'Why are they ashamed of using Nehru surname?': PM Modi's dig at Gandhi family

New Delhi, Feb 09: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the Gandhi family members asking why they were ashamed of using the Nehru surname even as he criticised Jawaharlal Nehru as well as Indira Gandhi for repeatedly using Article 356 to topple state governments led by non-Congress parties.

Replying to the Congress charge that the BJP was ignoring Jawaharlal Nehru's efforts in nation building after Independence, Modi retorted that if the first prime minister was so great, why have his scions never used his surname.

PM Modi said,"If we miss out on mentioning Nehru anywhere, they (Congress) get upset. Nehru was such a great person, then why does none of them use the Nehru surname. What is the shame in using the Nehru name." "This country is not the property of any family," he said.

PM Modi takes an apparent dig at Gandhis in Rajya Sabha: If Nehru was such a great person, why no one in his family uses his surnamepic.twitter.com/gyRy8Em1FO

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He targeted the Congress on the issue of federalism, saying the Congress dispensations including those led by former prime ministers Nehru and Gandhi used Article 356 of the Constitution at least 90 times to topple state governments of many regional outfits. Modi alleged that Indira Gandhi alone used Article 356 to topple governments of regional parties in states as many as 50 times.

As he rose to speak, opposition MPs, some holding placards, rushed into the Well shouting slogans against the prime minister and seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research against tycoon Gautam Adani.

Hitting back, Modi said, "Jitna keechad uchaloge, kamal utna hee zyada khilega (the more dirt you fling, the bigger the kamal - the election symbol of BJP - will bloom)."

"Keechad unke pass tha, mere pass gulal. Jo jis ke pass tha, usne diya uchal," Modi quoted Manik Verma's poem in response to the allegations opposition parties levelled on him and his government. Roughly translated, it means they had dirt and I had 'gulal', whosoever had whatever they flung in the air.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister said, "Which party & people in power misused Article 356? Elected governments were toppled 90 times, who were those who did that? A Prime Minister used Article 356 50 times and that name is Indira Gandhi. In Kerala communist government was elected which wasn't liked by Pandit Nehru and was toppled."

Opposition parties used the debate on the motion to attack the government for Adani group's phenomenal rise during the last few years. In his reply, Modi accused the Congress of adopting only "tokenism" in solving problems the country faced and said it was bothered only about its political ambitions and not the welfare of the nation.

"We don't believe in tokenism. We have chosen the path of hardwork in taking the country forward," he said, adding technology was being used as an aid in this mission.

Modi further said during the Amrit Kaal -- the period up to centenary of India's Independence -- his government would aim to provide benefits of all welfare schemes to everyone and achieve 100 per cent saturation levels, and put an end to any scope for appeasement on the basis of caste and religion.