Cong slams Modi over his remarks on Nehru

The Congress on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on Jawaharlal Nehru, saying compared to India's first PM, he will remain "a pygmy" making irrelevant and noisy statements.

Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said it was ironical that Prime Minister Modi was "pretending" to be an expert on Nehru's thinking and understanding of Indian farmers and agriculture crisis.

"Sad that India has a prime minister who distorts and misrepresents facts and history," Sharma said in a series of tweets.

"His (Modi's) insulting statements deserve strong condemnation. Nehru travelled across India not by helicopters but on bullock carts. Modi ji will be better informed and educated if he reads Pt. Nehru address at historic Lahore Session of Congress in 1929," he tweeted.

"He (Nehru) spoke of Kisan and against Zamindars and the formation of All India Kisan Sabha at the 1937 Congress session in Faizpur presided by Nehru," Sharma said.

Nehru was a towering leader of freedom struggle and Modi's barbs can never diminish his stature or belittle the sacrifices, he said.

"Nehru was a gentle colossus and compared to him, Modi will remain a pygmy making irrelevant and noisy statements," the Congress leader said.

Addressing a rally in Jodhpur on Monday, Prime Minister Modi, in an indirect but obvious reference to Nehru, had said the leader who wore a rose knew about gardens but not farmers or farming.

"He (Nehru) used to wear rose and had the knowledge of gardens but did not know about farmers or farming, due to which the community faced hardship," Modi had said without naming the first prime minister.