Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that while India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru should not be viewed without criticism, blaming him alone for the country’s challenges amounts to a selective reading of history.

Speaking at the fourth edition of the Kerala Legislative Assembly International Book Festival, Tharoor said he regards Nehru as the founder of Indian democracy but does not support all his ideas or policies uncritically. He stressed that acknowledging historical mistakes is necessary, but holding Nehru responsible for every national issue is unjustified.

“I am a fan of Jawaharlal Nehru, but not an uncritical fan,” Tharoor said, adding that Nehru’s intellect and worldview deserved admiration even if some decisions warranted debate. He underlined that Nehru played a decisive role in firmly establishing democracy in post-Independence India.

Taking a swipe at the BJP, Tharoor said the current government is not anti-democratic but is “certainly anti-Nehru”, accusing it of turning the former prime minister into a convenient scapegoat. According to him, criticism of Nehru is sometimes valid, but it often goes far beyond fair assessment.

Referring to the 1962 India-China war, Tharoor acknowledged that some of the criticism has a basis, noting that certain decisions taken during Nehru’s tenure contributed to the defeat. However, he said this does not justify blaming Nehru for unrelated problems decades later.

During the session, Tharoor also spoke about his personal journey as a writer. He said his habit of reading developed during childhood due to asthma, at a time when books were his primary companions. He recalled that his first novel was written at a very young age but was later lost due to an ink spill.

Tharoor noted that Kerala continues to lead in reading culture even as reading habits decline in many parts of the world. He said his book The Great Indian Novel, written in 1989, emerged as a satirical work at a time when the genre was largely missing in India.

Addressing younger readers, Tharoor observed that shorter books could be more effective for those struggling to find time to read today. He also reminisced about his days at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, recalling a stage production in which he played Antony while filmmaker Mira Nair portrayed Cleopatra.

The session concluded with Tharoor reciting lines from his earlier poem How to Sleep at Night.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has launched a sharp political offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of being motivated purely by power rather than ideology, as campaigning intensifies ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

In an interview to a regional media channel on Thursday, Thackeray rejected the BJP’s repeated assertion of being a pro-Hindutva party, claiming that its actions were driven by opportunism and an obsession with remaining in power.

“BJP is not a Hindutva party; it is a party obsessed with power,” Thackeray said, alleging that the party was willing to align with anyone to secure political control. He claimed that the BJP’s ideological positioning was merely a façade and accused it of abandoning principles whenever it suited its interests.

Drawing a historical comparison, Thackeray referred to the role of the Jan Sangh during the United Maharashtra movement, alleging that it joined late and exited first after its objectives were met. He likened the BJP’s political expansion to a “single-celled amoeba” that seeks to absorb everything around it.

Attack on alliances and governance

Thackeray took a dig at the BJP’s political alliances, referring to its tie-up with AIMIM in the Akot Municipal Council as “BJP’s Love Jihad”. He also alleged that BJP leaders preached Hindutva publicly while privately acting otherwise, adding that civic elections should focus on governance rather than communal narratives.

“The issue in the Municipal Corporation is not Hindu versus Muslim. It is about administration and governance,” he said.

Expressing concern over the prevailing political environment, Thackeray described the upcoming BMC elections as being fought under “strange circumstances”, alleging a decline in Maharashtra’s political culture.

“There was a time when wrongdoing carried shame. Today, people openly flaunt it,” he remarked, claiming that the state’s tradition of civil political conduct had been severely damaged.

Marathi identity and Mumbai’s future

Reiterating his party’s stand on Mumbai’s identity, Thackeray asserted that the city’s mayor would be a Marathi person. He questioned attempts to impose Hindi and other languages on Mumbai, reacting strongly to recent remarks about linguistic dominance in certain suburbs.

“Who decides what language Ghatkopar speaks?” he asked, criticising BJP leaders for making such claims.

He also accused the current Maharashtra administration of burdening Mumbai with a debt of ₹3 lakh crore and alleged large-scale misuse of the city’s resources.

Highlighting concerns of the local population, Thackeray claimed that Marathi people were increasingly facing discrimination in their own city, including denial of housing and criticism of food habits.

“The Marathi person integrates wherever he goes. But today, others are coming into our home and trying to dominate us,” he said, alleging that political arrogance had grown due to power being concentrated in Delhi.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to lead a protest march in Kolkata today against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on the political consultancy firm I-PAC, sources from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said.

The march will start from Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand and proceed towards Hazra More at 2 pm. TMC sources described the ED action as “politically motivated” and intended to intimidate the ruling party ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

The protest comes a day after Banerjee visited the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain during the ongoing ED search. She accused the central agency of attempting to seize sensitive internal documents, hard drives, and digital data related to the party’s election strategy.

Emerging from the premises, Banerjee alleged that the ED was acting at the behest of the Centre to harass the state’s ruling party.

On Thursday, the ED conducted searches at two locations linked to I-PAC in Kolkata, sparking widespread criticism from the TMC and supporters.