New Delhi, Nov 14 (Zee News): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who recently triggered a controversy with ‘scorpion’ jibe on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said that it is because of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru that a ‘chaiwala’ is the PM today.

Speaking at an event in the national capital, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala said that former prime minister Nehru created the institutional structures which enabled any Indian to aspire to reach the highest office.

“If today we have a 'chaiwala' as Prime Minister, it's because Nehru ji made it possible to create the institutional structures through which any Indian can aspire to rise to the highest office in the land,” said Tharoor at the relaunch of his book, ‘Nehru: The invention of India’.

Expressing concerns about alleged anti-Nehru campaigns on social media platforms, the Congress MP said that “astonishing amount of lies” are there on the internet. He further alleged that there’s a “consorted campaign of vilification, of calumny” against the country’s first Prime Minister.

“We've seen a consorted campaign of vilification, of calumny, astonishing amount of lies that are out there on internet...Why is there this desire to undermine such a great son of India (Jawaharlal Nehru), somebody who laid the foundations for what we have created?” the Congress leader said.

Lauding the contributions of the former prime minister to different fields, Tharoor added, “If today the government can boast about Mangalyaan, ask who created ISRO. Who decided that even poor India could dare to aim for the skies? Who created the IITs that sent so many bright young men to Silicon Valley where 40% of the start-ups are helmed by Indians?”

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was also present on the occasion, said that “precious legacy of Nehru is being undermined daily by those who rule us today”. She added, “They express disdain for Nehru for all that he did to build India that they are bent upon changing for worse.”