Minister, BJP MLA 'endure' Cong leader's lecture on Nehru

Mangaluru: It is the birth anniversary of the first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and of course, every Congress leader will like to delve deep into the anthology of the Nehruvian era. So did Mangaluru City MLA UT Khader, and how? Khader discussed some of Nehru's most rare works, which even seasoned politicians would pay close attention to. The occasion was the inauguration of YIASCM, a new institution under the umbrella of the Yenepoya University in Mangaluru.

The chief guests were the MLA Dr Bharat Shetty and state minister Dr Ashwathanarayan. Khader did not say it with any intention but it looked as though he was giving a sermon to the two leaders of the BJP a thoughtful one at that! Khader said "When India got independent the population was 33 crores and there was a food crisis already, which forced the government of that time to import red wheat and feed the people. But Nehru's vision had gone much beyond in making India self-sufficient in food and water. This vision he followed relentlessly and his work on the green revolution is the reason why even at 145 crore people now in India we are comfortable with enough food and water".

Throughout the talk, both Ashwathanarayan and Bharat Shetty looked nervously at Khader and gave wry smiles at every comment Khader made. But Khader was unstoppable and had decided to give his piece of mind. He said "If today India was managing its foreign relations in the context of Ukraine and Russia it was due to the footsteps of Nehruvian foreign policy of being non-aligned. He, Marshal Tito and Nasseer had signed the treaty of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). When every other nation in the world had expected India to take the side of one nation, India had remained Non-aligned which shows the government in the present disposition was following the spirit of Non Aligned movement". But in the end the applause did not stop for few minutes, but the wry smiles did not go away.