Sardar Patel, Not Nehru Should Have Been PM As Per Congress' Constitution: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and not Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru should have been the first Prime Minister of the country as per the Congress ' constitution. The Prime Minister made the statement as he replied to the Constitution debate in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing winter session of the Parliament.

Targeting the Congress party for not following up its own Constitution, PM Modi said, “Congress did not follow its own constitution, made Nehru the leader when state units had supported Sardar Patel.”

"...12 State Congress committees of Congress had agreed on the name of Sardar Patel. There was not a single committee with Nehru ji... As per Constitution, Sardar Sahib would have become the Prime Minister of the country... How can those who do not believe in the Constitution of their party accept the Constitution of the country," PM Modi asked. 

Recalling an instance when the BJP set an example of respecting the Constitution, PM Modi said, “In 1996, Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji sacrificed his 13-day government by not resorting to unconstitutional means, this shows our respect for Constitution."

Further hitting out at the Grand Old Party, PM Modi said, “Congress is playing new, shameless game to please its vote bank by promising religion-based reservation.”

“Congress stalled reservation policy… the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota became reality only after the party was ousted from power,” PM Modi added.

Pandit Nehru wrote several letters to chief ministers opposing policy of reservations for SCs and STs. From Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, Congress opposed reservation, the Prime Minister said.

The seeds sown by the first prime minister (Pandit JL Nehru) in changing Constitution was followed up by another Prime Minister, that was Indira Gandhi, who even overturned a verdict of the Supreme Court in 1971. She even clipped the wings of courts through Constitutional amendments to capture judiciary, PM Modi mentioned.