THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The respect which Prime Minister Narendra Modi often claims after his visit to foreign countries one after the other is not something which has come up in the last two years of NDA rule but it is borne from a legacy left by successive Congress governments and former premiers' like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi,reminded Congress working committee member and AICC general secretary Anil Sastri here today.
"Any Indian who gets respect abroad is not because of the NDA government but because of the country and the former governments", he said.
Inaugurating a commemoration meet on Jawaharlal Nehru on the occasion of his 52nd death anniversary,Anil Sastri,who is the son of Nehru's prime ministerial successor Lal Bahadur Sastri,said that right from the strong foundations laid by Nehru for the PSU's to the economic reforms driven by Manmohan Singh,has made what India is today.
"Modi seems to be a totally confused person. He says that all the former governments which had ruled India had created mischief . He forgets that the first NDA government led by A B Vajpayee is also in it", he said.
"The media says that Modi is level headed. But what he has done in the country in real terms? ",he asked. "He is a completely frustrated person", he said.
The former union minister said that the political legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family is able to sustain the Congress,despite odds .''The Congress will cease to exist without the Nehru-Gandhi family", he felt.
He observed that the despite the good show of the UDF government,it is unfortunate that the Congress has lost the assembly polls.''Elections is a game of perception,the battle of perception on a party viz-a-viz other parties", he assessed,adding that the Congress can gain its strength .''Rahul Gandhi is taking all major decisions in the party. He is the hope of the youth", he said.
Anil Sastri also said that there may be infighting and differences in a party like the Congress.
"A political organisation will grow only if there are differences. The point is that a consensus should be arrived", he said.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy and former ministers' Ramesh Chennithala and V S Sivakumar also spoke. KPCC president V M Sudheeran presided.