Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut questioned the Central government on the exclusion of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's picture from the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) poster to commemorate the 75th year of India's independence.
"What has Nehru done to hate him so much?" Sanja Raut asked the Centre.
He added that the move shows the Centre's "narrow mindset" and called it an act of "political vindictiveness".
Raut said that those who had no participation in the freedom struggle and creating history are keeping out of the heroes of the independence struggle.
"One can have differences over Nehru's policies after independence, but no one can deny his contribution to the freedom struggle," said the executive editor of Saamana.
He took to his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the Sena publication 'Saamana' to point out that pictures of Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad were excluded from the poster of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
The Rajya Sabha member also noted that the institutions Nehru built are now being sold to keep the Indian economy moving. He wrote that Nehru's long-term vision saved the country from economic devastation. "What has Nehru does to hate him so much?" he asked.
"You cannot destroy the immortal contribution of Nehru and (former prime minister) Indira Gandhi in nation-building. Those who deny Nehru's contributions will be called villains of history" claimed the MP.