Panaji, Feb 11 (IANS): A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the blame for the "delay" in Goa's liberation from Portugal at India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's door, BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday followed the suit.

Speaking at an election rally in Marcela village in North Goa, Nadda said that the Central government at the time, led by Nehru did not have the will to liberate Goa, as a result of which the state's liberation was delayed till 1961.

"Because of the Indian National Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru, your independence was delayed. The rest of the country gained independence in 1947. You became independent later. The country's leaders did not have the will to liberate you. You earned the liberation through your struggle," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president said.

"When I see the people of Goa, I feel pride and honoured. I feel pride and a sense of honour because you have tolerated foreign forces for a long time. You kept on fighting and your struggle has not been a small one. The struggle went on for 451 years," Nadda said.

In his speech at an election rally in Mapusa town in North Goa on Friday, PM Modi had said: "The first Prime Minister of the country Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru spoke from the Red Fort and you can listen to his speech on Youtube. He said from the ramparts of the Red Fort, that he could not send the army to help the Satyagrahis."

"That means you do what you want, if you want to die, die, live if you want to live. This is what he did!" the Prime Minister had added.