PM Modi: Congress leaders are ashamed of the nationalistic slogan. (Photo Credit: File Photo-PTI)
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a jibe at his predecessor Manmohan Singh after he last week alleged that ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ slogan is being misused. In a veiled attack at the former prime minister, at the BJP parliamentarians meet, PM Modi alleged that some Congress leaders are ashamed of the nationalistic slogan. 'Some people find foul smell in Bharat Mata Ki Jai,' PM Modi said in his address to MPs.
Tracing it back to India’s freedom movement, PM Modi said, "Even at the time of the freedom movement, some people felt the same way about the Bharat Mata slogan."
Last week, in an apparent attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said that ‘nationalism and slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' are being misused to construct a ‘militant and purely emotional’ idea of India that excludes millions of residents and citizens.
Addressing a gathering at the launch of a book on Jawaharlal Nehru’s works and speeches, Singh praised Nehru saying he was not only statesman of high international standing but historian and literary figure too.
"Jawaharlal Nehru was not only statesman of high international standing but historian and literary figure too. But people who don't have patience to read history or would like to be deliberately guided by their prejudices are trying their best to picture him in false light," Singh had said.
Singh had said that if India is recognised in the comity of nations as a vibrant democracy and, if it is considered as one of the important world powers, it was the first prime minister, who should be recognised as its main architect.
At the parliamentary meet, in his first speech at a party forum after Delhi riots, which have left more than 40 people dead, Modi said national interest is supreme for the BJP while for others party interest is of the most importance.
'Vikas' (development) is our mantra and peace, harmony and unity are prerequisites for the country's development, he told the MPs.
"We should not merely speak about it but take lead in ensuring peace, harmony and unity," the prime minister said.
Emphasising on his slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwash' (With all, development for all and trust of all), Modi invoked the Sanskrit words of "manasa, vaacha, karmana" to ask party leaders to work the country's development with their mind, words and action.
(With Agency Inputs)
