When a plane went to Indore from Bhopal to ferry ex-PM Nehru's favourite cigarettes

India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is often discussed in the political discourse of the country even after more than five decades he passed away. The ruling BJP often keeps reminding the Congress about the 'blunder' Nehru committed on handling the China issue whereas the grand old party says that the saffron party "fears" the Gandhi-Nehru family the most in Indian politics.

'Nehruji used to have a cigarette after his meals'

Recently, another story regarding the former Prime Minister has surfaced on the Internet which is also very-well documented in official records. According to an anecdote on the website of Madhya Pradesh's Raj Bhavan, once during Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to Bhopal, the Raj Bhavan staff realised that Nehru's favourite cigarette brand "555" was not available in the Raj Bhavan.

Nehruji used to have a cigarette after his meals, the anecdote by former Madhya Pradesh Governor Hari Vinayak Pataskar says. The staff immediately sent a plane to Indore for air-lifting Nehruji's favourite pack, which was kept ready at the Indore airport, it added. 

"On a visit of Jawahar Lal Nehru to Bhopal, the queen of Bhopal invited him to stay at her palace, which Jawahar Lal Nehru accepted. Governor Pataskar immediately contacted Jawahar Lal Nehru and pressed that this being an official visit, Raj Bhavan was the only appropriate place for him to stay," according to another anecdote. The incident and anecdote depicts a scenario that would probably be politically inviable in the modern day and furthers the claim that certain key personalities in the history of India had not only larger-than-life images but were also treated as such.

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Meanwhile, recently, while defending the move to name the Motera Stadium after Narendra Modi, the BJP accused the Congress of doublespeak. The party said the Congress which named over a dozen stadiums and 28 sports trophies after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, has no right to question the move.

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