After BJP Blames Nehru for Partition, PM Modi Offers Him Praise in I-Day Speech

In a video, the BJP had accused Nehru of kowtowing to Jinnah and the Muslim League on the creation of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 76th Independence Day in New Delhi on Monday, 15 August.

(Photo: PTI)

Just one day after the BJP criticised the Congress party regarding Jawaharlal Nehru's contributions to the country's partition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, 15 August, in his Independence Day speech delivered words of praise for India's first prime minister.

"Today is an opportunity to bow down in front of those who fought the war of independence and also built the country after independence, be it Nehru ji, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Deendayal Upadhyay, Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Nanaji Deshmukh, Subramania Bharati," PM Modi said in his speech.

These words came after his own party released a video to mark the second "Partition Horrors Remembrance Day" and accused Jawaharlal Nehru of kowtowing to the Muhammad Ali Jinnah-led Muslim League on the creation of Pakistan.

The BJP's tweet in Hindi accompanying the video read, "Those who had no knowledge of India's cultural heritage, civilization, values, pilgrimages, in just three weeks, they drew the border between people living together for centuries."

The Congress hit back with MP Jairam Ramesh, in a series of tweets, stating that "the real intent of PM to mark Aug 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day is to use the most traumatic historical events as fodder for his current political battles."

"The modern day Savarkars and Jinnahs are continuing their efforts to divide the nation. The Indian National Congress will uphold the legacy of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and many others who were untiring in their efforts to unite the nation. The politics of hate will be defeated," he added.