Jaipur: On the last day of the 15th session of the Jaipur Literature Festival on Tuesday, a debate was held on whether ‘Nehru remains the greatest prime minister of India’.
Academician Purushottam Agarwal, BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi, Advocate Pinky Anand, former National Commission President Wajahat Habibullah, lawyer Avi Singh participated in the debate along with author Tripurdaman Singh while writer/journalist Veer Sanghvi was the moderator.
Advocate Pinky Anand accused the country's first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru of "dynasty politics" while Shazia Ilmi read part of Maulana Azad's biography discussing Azad's “mistake of not supporting Sardar Patel and supporting Nehru”.
Agarwal countered Ilmi's argument and recalled the incident saying Patel, in his last days, took a promise from Nehru's critic VN Gadgil that he (Gadgil) “would not spare Nehru”. Author Tripuradaman Singh said Pandit Nehru “did not spare anyone in the intellectual battle with his political opponents and allies, besides giving his side”.
“This is the reason why he also had to confront his counterpart, Mohammad Ali Jinnah”. The author said that while Nehru was convinced of his 'larger than life' image, Patel was “practical”. “At the time of the country's independence, Nehru wanted the image of the country to be that of a secular democracy.
"This also became the reason for the tussle between him and the poet Iqbal," the author said. Meanwhile, Pinky Anand accused Nehru of “introducing monarchical rule and dynasty in the country through design starting with Indira Gandhi”. “While he had a lot of freedom fighters but he chose his daughter for the inheritance," Anand said.
