Several Congress leaders paid rich tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru on his 131st birth anniversary, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi saying India's first prime minister was a "towering visionary" who laid the foundation of the country with values of brotherhood, egalitarianism and modern outlook.
Born in 1889, the Congress stalwart remains the country's longest serving prime minister.
"Pt. Nehru was always a strong advocate against the greed of capitalist societies. He believed it was imperative for the State to do everything in its power to uplift the millions of poor & downtrodden citizens," the Congress tweeted using the hashtag 'RememberingNehru'.
"Today, when people are choosing their own facts & even truth is subjective, we as a society must hold onto the teaching of great leaders like Pt. Nehru," it said.
Rahul Gandhi offered floral tributes at Shanti Vana in New Delhi, while Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted on Twitter a quote of her great grandfather from the 'Discovery of India'.
"Today, India celebrates the birth anniversary of its first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji: a towering visionary who laid the foundation of our country with values of brotherhood, egalitarianism & modern outlook," Rahul Gandhi tweeted, lauding the contribution of his great grandfather.
"Our endeavour must be to conserve these values," he said.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor posted pictures after paying tributes to Nehru at Parliament and tweeted: "On Nehruji's 131st birth anniversary, Speaker Om Birla & five faithful Nehruvians (Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jairam Ramesh, Bhupinder Hooda, Rajiv Shukla & I) were the only attendees at the annual Parliament remembrance/pushparchana for our first PM. Sad."
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Nehru was one of the foremost leaders of the freedom movement and also the architect of modern India.
Several other Congress leaders also paid glowing tributes to Nehru.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: "As we celebrate the 131st Birth Anniversary of 'Nation Builder' & India's visionary Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru this Diwali, let's remember his words, that are important more then ever-: 'Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system'."
