Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has kicked up a controversy by comparing BJP to a jackal which can sniff and move quickly and the 125-year-old Congress to a giant elephant.
Ramesh also said Narendra Modi’s career reminded him of the rise of the Third Reich. The BJP condemned Ramesh’s remarks saying the Congress is taking the political discourse to a very low level.
In an interview to an international news agency, Ramesh termed the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for 2014 polls as a dangerous extremist and compared his rise to the birth of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
“Political autocracy, social divisiveness and economic liberalism. That’s Mr. Modi reduced to three dimensions…Exactly what created the autobahns and the Volkswagens in the 30s but also created the disaster of Germany. India right now in 2013 - I would say we are going through what Germany went through in 1932,” Ramesh said.
later in the day, however, the Rural Development Minister denied having used the word Hitler to compare anyone. “I haven’t compared anything to Hitler, have not used the word,” Ramesh clarified during an interview to a private news channel.
Ramesh, who has been assigned with greater responsibilities by his party for the 2014 General elections, maintained Congress is a giant elephant, moves slowly, moves certainly and takes a long time to move.
Ramesh also said the 2014 elections are a do-or-die battle for Modi but not for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. If Modi loses 2014 lok Sabha polls, his story is over but it’s not the same for Rahul, he said.
BJP leaders strongly reacted to Ramesh’s reamrsk. Party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that instead of targeting the party’s prime ministerial candidate, the Congress should first look at its own ‘achievements’.
“It would be better if instead of Modi bashing you discuss about your achievements. What do you have in terms of achievements except for failuresIJ As far as Modi’s chances after the elections are concerned, we do not expect any chances for the helpless Congress Party,” he said.
“They keep going on about fascism and Hitlerism, rather than addressing the issue of the day — misgovernance,” BJP spokeswoman Meenakshi lekhi said in response to the Minister’s comments.