Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said India was fortunate to get a Prime Minister like Jawaharlal Nehru, using his example to deride the fresh Ram temple campaign and the Narendra Modi government’s boast of building the world’s largest statue.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader’s comments came after the inauguration of a bridge on the Yamuna.

“Whenever I think of this bridge, I remember the country’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1947, when our country became independent, there were many challenges. The foundation of a modern India had to be laid,” Kejriwal said.

“It is our good fortune we got a PM like Nehru who had the vision to lay the foundation for modern India…. If Nehru had made a temple instead of SAIL, could this country have developed?

“I was thinking: if Nehru made a 182-metre statue instead of IIT Kharagpur, I wouldn’t have been able to study there. I was thinking: if Nehru made a temple instead of BHEL, would this country have progressed?”