BJP flays Rahul for 'panauti' remarks against PM Modi, demands apology
Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul’s remarks about the prime minister were “shameful, condemnable and disgraceful”
The BJP on Tuesday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “panauti Modi” barb against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, slamming his remarks as “shameful and disgraceful” and demanding an apology from him.
“PM means Panauti Modi,” Rahul said at an election rally in Rajasthan earlier in the day, insinuating the prime minister’s presence in the Ahmedabad stadium during the India-Australia Cricket World Cup final brought bad luck to the home side, which lost the decider.
Hitting back, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul’s remarks about the prime minister of the country were “shameful, condemnable and disgraceful”. He has shown his true colours but he must remember as to how the Congress has sunk in Gujarat after his mother Sonia Gandhi called Modi, then chief minister of the state, “maut ka saudagar”.
“I vehemently condemn Rahul Gandhi’s comment about the prime minister,” Prasad told reporters when asked for his reaction on the Congress leader’s remarks. The BJP leader alleged that Rahul has made such remarks against PM Modi out of frustration seeing an imminent defeat of the Congress in the assembly polls.
“Rahul Gandhi must apologise...else we will make this issue very serious,” the BJP leader said, adding that the Congress leader with his remarks against Modi has shown “his true colours as to what is your status and understanding”.
Addressing the rally in Baytoo in Balotra ahead of the November 25 Rajasthan assembly polls, Gandhi alleged Modi diverts people's attention while industrialist Adani picks their pockets.
The term “panauti”, associated with bad luck, has been trending on social media since India's defeat in the cricket match, attended by Prime Minister Modi at the Ahmedabad stadium named after him.
(With agency inputs)