Chouhan, who said that he earlier considered Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah his leaders but "now worshipped them", continued his attacks on Nehru, unmindful of the strong criticism from the Congress.

"I stand by my statements (on Nehru). I spoke with full responsibility that whatever mistakes Pandit Nehru had committed on Kashmir, have been remedied by Prime Minister Modi," he told reporters here.

"I am a priest of 'Bharat Mata', a criminal is not only one who kills somebody.. if someone does a wrong to the nation, then there is no bigger crime. Whatever I said is based on facts. (The decision on Article 370) was due to his (Nehru's) special love for (Kashmiri leader), Sheikh Abdullah.. and what was the reason only Nehru knows. Article 370 was applied to Kashmir... this was a crime. That is the Jan Sangh, right from the first day, had been opposition this dual system," Chouhan said.

"Another crime that Pandit Nehru committed was that when Indian forces were chasing away the Pakistani tribal raiders, he declared a one-sided ceasefire. Now Congress will have to reply, why didn't Sonia and Rahul Gandhi speak in Parliament (on it)....," he said.

"First I used to see Modiji and Amit Shah as my leaders, now I see them with devotion. After this decision (of scrapping Article 370), I have started worshipping Prime Minister them," Chouhan said.

In his address at a party membership drive in Odisha on Saturday, Chouhan had termed Nehru a "criminal". His comments had drawn a strong riposte from the Congress but he did not retract.