Must preserve Nehru's legacy: Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said efforts were on to erase Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy from the country and there was a need to thwart such attempts urgently.

Speaking at an international conference here to mark the 125th birth anniversary of India's first prime minister, Gandhi said: "Nehru is an ancient idea but he is also a part of living India. His ideas and politics are very much present here today."

Some people were trying to "remove his (Nehru) legacy from the country he so dearly cherished", Gandhi added without naming anyone.

The Gandhi scion said it was important that the people of the country preserved "this peaceful India, Nehru's India, an India which is secular and tolerant.

"Today this legacy, that has denied no man or woman their voice, and that we have fought to preserve for close to 70 years is more important than ever before," said Gandhi.

The congress vice president said Nehru was a "man of ideas but not an ideologue" and he "never forced his ideas on anyone".

"India is a country where democratic principles are cherished deeply. Nehru developed and protected these democratic ideals. That is why today India is a nation where one-sixth of humanity lives in peace," he said.