By IANS,
Shrawasti (Uttar Pradesh)/ New Delhi : After taunting the Congress with his “budhiya” (aged woman) comments, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Sunday termed the 125-year-old national party a “gudiya” (doll), eliciting sharp reaction from the opposite camp.
Addressing a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Shrawasti district, Modi said: “Ab mein Congress ko budhiya nahin, gudiya kahoonga. Aisa karne se kya woh jawan ho jayegi (Now I will refer to the Congress not as an aged woman, but a doll. Will it make the party younger?)”
“I had only told the age of the Congress. If my friends in the Congress do not like my suggestion then from now onwards I will stop saying budhiya Congress and will instead call the party gudiya Congress,” Modi told a gathering in Shrawasti district, 300 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.
Reacting to Modi’s political barbs, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told media persons in New Delhi that Modi had “lost his balance” and was “causing humiliation to himself” every time he insulted the Congress.
Referring to Modi’s “budhiya” comment, Singhvi said that besides all the elderly people and women in the country, “he (Modi) should also apologise to L.K. Advani, who did not fall in the youth category.” Advani, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, is 81 years old.
In election speeches in Uttar Pradesh two days ago, and earlier in south India, Modi had likened the Congress to an aged women and said it was a burden on the country.
Taking up cudgels on behalf of the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi, the 37-year-old daughter of party president Sonia Gandhi, had asked Modi Saturday whether she, her mother and brother Rahul Gandhi looked old.
In an obvious reference to Priyanka, Modi said: “I called Congress an old woman, but some people are telling their own age.”
Modi accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of appeasing Muslims for political mileage ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
“Our prime minister is indulging in vote bank politics. It has become evident by the comments made by Manmohan Singh during a chief ministers’ meet in the recent past in which he had said that Muslims should get first priority in reaping the benefits of the country’s national properties and resources,” said Modi.
Modi said if the BJP comes to power at the centre then the party will ensure that the poor, downtrodden should have the first right to national resources and properties.
Modi also charged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of not being serious towards the all-round development of the state.