India suffers when decisions are taken under the burden of ideology, ignoring national interest and the unity of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Thursday while addressing students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. "One thing that has done a great deal of harm to the democratic system of our country is to give priority to our ideology over national interest," the Prime Minister said in his address to students after unveiling a statue of Swami Vivekananda in the campus through video conference. He said that some students take steps just following their ideology ignoring matters of the nation's interests. "This is wrong," the Prime Minister said.

Citing examples of how people from different walks of life and following different ideologies came together in national interest, Modi said, "You see in the history of the country, whenever a difficult time has come in front of the country, people of every ideology have come together in national interest." Modi said people of every ideology came together under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. "They fought for the country together," Modi said. He further pointed out that India saw the same kind of solidarity during the Emergency. "Former Congress leaders and activists also participated in that movement against the Emergency along with RSS volunteers and Jan Sangh members. There were also Socialists and Communists," he said.