Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, without naming him, compared Jawaharlal Nehru with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that unlike him the current PM is "proud" of the country's heritage.
"The country has now got a Prime Minister who not only feels proud in connecting with his heritage, but is also determined to make India 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'," Yogi Adityanath said.
Yogi Adityanath was speaking as the Chief Guest at the launch of a book titled Modi@20, in UP's Varanasi at the Rudraksh Convention Centre.
Speaking about PM Modi in comparison with the former PM, Yogi Adityanath said: "There was one Prime Minister who did not feel proud of his heritage, and then there is Narendra Modi who has resolved to make the whole India, 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat', by connecting with his heritage."
He said that India has set an example before the world in how to deal with terrorism, and lauded the prime minister for showing "no hesitation in ending the root of terrorism in Kashmir forever".
"This is the capability of PM Modi's leadership," he said.
"We have also seen a Prime Minister who was against sending the President of the country for the restoration of the Somnath temple, and today we have a Prime Minister who himself has started the construction work of the grand Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya," Yogi Adityanath said.
"We are all proud that our Prime Minister is one of the most popular leaders in the world today," he said.
The book, he said, was based on 20 years of administrative work of Narendra Modi as recounted by people from different strata of society.
"The Hindi version of this book is being released today in Kashi, for which I heartily congratulate the people of Kashi," he said.
The Chief Minister also said that India has become the fifth largest economy in the world and has reached this position by overtaking the United Kingdom, which ruled the country for almost two hundred years.
According to a government statement issued in Lucknow, Yogi Adityanath earlier in the day also unveiled a statue of late Rajeshwar Prasad Singh at the Post Graduate College in Ghazipur district.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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