Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday hit out at Narendra Modi, saying the Prime Minister's one point objective is to "completely debunk" Jawaharlal Nehru.
He also asked the Left parties to join the Congress at a platform to "rediscover" Nehru and use Nehruvian thoughts and approach to check communal forces in the country.
"...Nehru continues to be relevant, Nehru continues to be written about, continues to be debated. But Narendra Modi's one point objective is to completely debunk and delegitimise Jawaharlal Nehru. That is BJP's one point agenda -- to delegitimise Nehru," Mr Ramesh said at a public discourse, organised by C Achutha Menon Centre in Thrissur.
"If you destroy the Nehruvian legacy, you destroy the idea of India," the former Union Minister said. He said Nehru was more than an individual who stood for a certain vision.
"The country was looking to the Congress. With the support of all of you, I am sure that we will find a way forward..." Mr Ramesh warned that India is in danger of becoming an "illiberal democracy".
"Political parties have been there. Parliament will meet, but the approach is one of authoritarian nowadays. The space for alternative point of view is shrinking," Mr Ramesh said.
"If a 28-year-old girl, Priya Pillai is offloaded from a plane going to London and be termed as anti-national...for doing what? For raising concerns of environmental consequences of coal mining. She was not committing a crime," he said.
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