New Delhi: Congress today (Oct 25, 2004) described as "condemnable" RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) chief K S Sudarshan's statement that late Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru's "west oriented" policies had affected India's development process and said it was not only untrue but "unwarranted".

"RSS chief criticising one of India's hero Nehru, who was the leader of this country and an architect of Modern India, is unwarranted. It's not only untrue but condemnable," Congress spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the whole world knows about Nehru's struggle, his contributions and philosophy but we don't want any certificate from RSS chief about Nehru who went to jail on several occasions during freedom struggle contrary to RSS and its affiliates who even opposed non-cooperation movement during the period.

Sharma said the ideals and philosophy of India's first Prime Minister was quite different from that of RSS as he was a "liberal democrat committed to constitutional democracy unlike RSS "which is exclusivist, fascism and communal".