The Congress on Thursday retaliated over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s attack against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by charging him of indulging in petty politics. It also rejected as “tall talk” Modi’s challenge to the PM for a public debate.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said, “Prime Minister will come last. let him debate with us first.” He said Modi is “so restless to become something big in the country” that he forgets that this is a day when political differences are forgotten. About Modi comparing his speech with that of the Prime Minister, Khurshid said, “Chhota munh badi baat (tall talk by a person with small stature).”
With Modi slamming PM for India’s “weak and feeble” response for provocations from Pakistan and China, the Minister said, “Petty politics must not be allowed.” He also reminded Modi that he has been denied visa to visit the US.
Snubbing Modi for his comment of a ‘serial of saas, bahu and damaad’ targeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s land deals, Khurshid questioned, “And is he (Modi) like KhalnayakIJ There was also a film named Khalnayak. Khalnayak serial is also running. Ask him about that.”
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad dismissed Modi’s attempts to compare himself with the PM by saying, “If today I say that I am bigger than (Barack) Obama, people will call me mad.”
He wondered, “How can any CM give a challenge to PMIJ Where is the comparison between Raja Bhoj and Gangu.. Who has stopped anybody from giving a challenge. Sitting in one’s home everyone is a tiger...”
Reminding that there is just one Prime Minister, there are two-and-a-half dozen CMs, Azad said, “I do not want to compare one Chief Minister out of them with the Prime Minister. For us, all Chief Ministers are the same. To whichever party they may belong, they are Chief Ministers for us. We also have a campaign committee, each political party has a campaign committee chairman. So there is nothing big about it.”
“If somebody has no scheme, no programme and does politics only in the name of religion... What can we say about it,” Azad said when asked about the BJP leader’s criticism of the UPA Government’s programmes and policies.
Khurshid also took a dig at Modi over his “yes we can” speech in Hyderabad, saying it was an import from Obama’s speech, which someone prepared for him.