"Dubious milestone, pathological fixation on Nehru": Congress slams BJP for celebrating PM Modi as longest continuously serving Prime Minister

New Delhi [India], June 10 : Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "murder of democracy," and termed 4,399 days making him India's longest continuously serving PM, a "dubiously invented" milestone.
As PM Modi surpassed former PM Jawaharlal Nehru's record of 4,398 consecutive days served after the first general election, Jairam Ramesh recalled the achievements in post-Independence India.
The Congress leader attacked PM Modi over the NEET-UG paper leak and CBSE irregularities row, and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Ramesh wrote on X, "Jawaharlal Nehru became Prime Minister of India on August 15, 1947, presiding over a stellar Cabinet - the likes of which have rarely been seen in the world. Over the next five years, modern India came into being. Over 560 princely states were integrated peacefully into the Indian Union, the Constitution of India was debated and adopted, zamindari was abolished, reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were put in place, a number of multipurpose irrigation-cum-power projects were launched, the infrastructure for science and technology capability was established (including in nuclear energy), and India emerged as a force in global affairs."
"Electoral rolls bearing 170 million registered voters were prepared to ensure universal adult franchise, and free India's first General Elections were held between October 1951 and February 1952," he added.
The Congress MP alleged that the Modi government has put the independence of the Election Commission under threat, erased scientific temper and weakened reservations for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.
"The 1947-52 record of achievements of India with Nehru as PM, in which stalwarts like Sardar Patel, Dr. Ambedkar, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad played such a pivotal role, is now sought to be erased by Mr Modi, who has a pathological fixation on Nehru. He may have passed a self-proclaimed and dubiously invented milestone today, but he is a millstone around India's neck, presiding as he is over the Murder of Democracy in India. The very same establishments of democracy - an independent Election Commission and a sacrosanct voter list - are now threatened. Scientific temper has been erased through the destruction of our educational institutions, as exposed most recently by the NEET-CBSE scandals. Reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes have been weakened through privatisation and nefarious instruments like Not Found Suitable," Jairam Ramesh wrote.
He argued that the BJP could not achieve a majority in the 2024 elections and had to form an NDA government, while in comparison, Pandit Nehru won the 1952, 1957, and 1962 General Elections with a decisive majority.
"And while Nehru won in 1952, 1957, and 1962 with a hugely decisive majority, Mr Modi did NOT secure even a simple majority by a considerable margin in 2024 and had to hurriedly convene a NDA meeting bypassing the BJP Parliamentary Party, to anoint himself as PM. 2024 was most certainly not a mandate for Him," the post read.
Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi called the celebration of the milestone a "propaganda exercise" and said that the BJP is counting from January 26, 1950 and using the phrase "longest serving elected" to surpass Nehru.
Singhvi posted on X, "The BJP's latest propaganda exercise deserves a reality check. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of India. The BJP's claim rests on a technicality of counting only from 26 January 1950 and then conveniently using the phrase "longest serving elected". India did not come into existence on 26 January 1950. Our national journey as an independent nation began on 15 August 1947."
"Instead of manufacturing records through semantic jugglery and headline management, the government should focus on addressing the challenges confronting the people. History cannot be rewritten by clever footnotes or political marketing," the advocate added.
As PM Modi became India's longest continuously serving Prime Minister, the record has sparked a comparison between him and the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
Earlier today, former President Ram Nath Kovind hailed PM Modi's 12-year tenure as the "watershed period for India since Independence," lauding the current government for countering the "inferiority" instilled by the colonial rule.
Kovind praised PM Modi for representing India as the "mother of democracy" at the global stage, while criticising the Nehruvian period for allegedly perpetuating the ideas of Thomas Macaulay.