Sonia Gandhi warns against efforts to ‘vilify and erase’ Nehru’s legacy

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday delivered a strong defence of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, warning that a sustained campaign was underway to distort his role in the freedom movement and undermine the foundations of the modern Indian state.

Speaking at the launch of The Nehru Centre India, Gandhi said that Nehru’s life was guided by the principles of parliamentary democracy, scientific temper and secularism. His lasting contributions, she noted, continue to shape India decades after his passing.

“He was the prime architect of the modern Indian nation-state,” she said, recalling his commitment to planned development and to celebrating India’s diversity while nurturing its unity.

While acknowledging that historical leaders must be analysed and critiqued, Gandhi cautioned that deliberate attempts were being made to defame Nehru. “Analysis is one thing, but deliberate mischief with what he said, what he wrote and what he did is totally unacceptable,” she said.

According to her, the attacks were part of a wider political project aimed at erasing Nehru from public memory and rewriting history to serve contemporary interests. “Their goal is not just to erase him; it is to destroy the social, political and economic foundations on which our nation has been built,” she remarked.

Gandhi alleged that the forces behind this effort were rooted in an ideology that had no role in the freedom struggle or the drafting of the Constitution. She said the same ideology had once propagated hatred that culminated in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. “His killers today continue to be glorified by its adherents,” she added.

In a speech that called for resistance, Gandhi urged citizens to defend Nehru’s legacy, arguing that the stakes went beyond history. “We owe it not only to Nehru and his comrades—we owe it to ourselves and to future generations,” she said, adding that safeguarding India’s constitutional values and restoring reason in public life was essential.

The event also saw the announcement of a new digital archive of Nehru’s works, available at nehruarchive.in. The platform hosts 100 published volumes covering the period from 1903 until the day before Nehru’s death, and will be expanded over time. Gandhi described the initiative as an important resource for researchers and the public, providing ready access to what Nehru said, wrote or did.

Praising the effort led by Sandeep Dixit, she said the project would help counter misinformation and ensure that Nehru’s contributions were understood in context. “We need many more such initiatives across the country,” she said.

Gandhi concluded by congratulating the organisers and expressing confidence in their work. “Jai Hind,” she said, ending her address.