PM Narendra Modi addressing the Indian community in San Jose
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi headed home from his second high-profile US tour that included a visit to Silicon Valley, long-term ally Shiv Sena needled him with a reminder that "Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi were popular too, without social media."
An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana today said: "There is no doubt that Modi is very popular and everywhere he went (in the US) there were chants of 'Modi Modi', but so were Nehru and Indira, even at a time there was no social media like today."
The Sena also says that the contribution of previous Congress prime ministers like PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh cannot be forgotten.
"PM Modi enjoys extraordinary popularity overseas but we must not forget that Manmohan Singh and Narasimha Rao laid the foundation for India's economic progress," said the editorial.
"When the country was facing an economic crisis, they gave shape and direction to the economic progress of the country. Even though they are political opponents, we cannot lose sight of this and they did this even while juggling a fragmented and often fragile coalition," it said.
The party said a revolution in broadcasting and telecom first took place during Indira Gandhi's regime, and it was carried forward by her successor and son Rajiv Gandhi, who worked to get phones to each village.
The Sena tempered its "home truths" by ending the editorial on a note of praise: "Modi is very popular abroad and global recognition for India makes us all proud. He should be congratulated."
PM Modi on Monday ended a five-day visit of the US, during which he attended a UN conference in New York, met with tech giants in Silicon Valley and visited Facebook and Google.
The Sena has been far more cutting in its criticism of the BJP in editorials over the past year. The two parties, allies for over 25 years, fell out just before the Maharashtra election a year ago but patched up to form government.