India, June 15 -- It is hilarious to see that the ghost of Nehru, which Mr Modi and his band of merry men from the BJP-RSS have been trying to exorcise, has yet to leave the PM's office even after more than a decade. Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party have conducted unrelenting political campaigns against Jawaharlal Nehru. They have blamed him for everything from Kashmir to China, from socialism to dynastic politics, from bureaucratic inertia to secularism itself. Yet, the one man they cannot seem to escape is Nehru.

For a man who died decades ago, his shadow looms larger than life in the imaginations of the saffronistas. They have to measure every milestone against him. Every achievement has to be benchmarked against him.

Th...