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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday latched on to tweets by one Salman Nizami who, he said, was a Congress leader to tear into the opposition party for allegedly questioning his parentage.
In a stinging attack on the Congress after former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar's 'neech aadmi' (lowly sort of a person) remark, he said a leader from the opposition party, who, he claimed, is campaigning for party vice president Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat, has sought to know who is his father and mother.
At an election rally at Lunawada, the prime minister said India was his father and mother, and like a good son, he will spend his entire life serving the country.
"There is one Congress youth leader called Salman Nizami, who is campaigning for Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat. He said on Twitter that Rahul Gandhi's father (Rajiv Gandhi) and grandmother (Indira Gandhi) had sacrificed their lives, while his great grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) was a freedom fighter. Okay, very good, we do not have a problem with that," Modi said.
"Then he (a reference to Nizami) went on to ask that Modi should answer who is his father and mother," he said, quoting from the purported tweets of Nizami.
The prime minister disapproved of the use of this kind of language in public discourse.
"Do we use this language in public discourse? Do we ask such things, this Salman Nizami is their star campaigner?" Modi said.
"What else has he tweeted, he is from Kashmir and he says he wants Aazad Kashmir. He called Indian armed forces rapists," Modi said.
Lashing out at Nizami, the prime minister said he has also glorified Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged for his crime.
"That person has further said in his tweets that 'ghar ghar se Afzal niklega'. Afzal Guru was sentenced to death by our courts and this man wants every home to produce Afzal.
"Do you want Afzal in every home? Can you allow Afzals in Gujarat?" Modi asked the crowd at the rally in Lunawada, Mahisagar district, where the second phase of polling will be held on December 14.
"The person who has spoken such things is campaigning for Rahul Gandhi. Should we forgive such people? Is this not an insult to our armed forces. To call our armed forces rapist is not their insult? Should we forgive such people?" Modi asked repeatedly.
Modi said he will serve the country till his last breath.
"I want to tell those who are asking who is my father and who is my mother... India is my father and India is also my mother. I, the son of Bharat Mata, will serve my motherland till the last breath of my life," Modi asserted.
Continuing his tirade over Aiyar's 'neech' remark against him, Modi had on Friday read out a laundry list of 'abuses' poured on him by Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and 'her family members'.
At another rally today in Bodeli, Chhota Udaipur district, he asked does he become 'neech' because he was born in a backward community?
"Here (at the Bodeli rally) people of OBC communities are sitting. I want to ask them, are we useless as we are born in backward class? Are we useless as we are born in backward community? Should we approve if someone says that we are 'neech'? Modi asked.
"It's time to throw such a party out of Gujarat," the prime minister said, stepping up his attack on the Congress.
Modi said the Congress is 'abusing' him out of desperation.
"They have lost everywhere in elections. They think if they can defeat Modi, then the chair can be kept vacant for their 'yuvraj' (a veiled reference to Rahul Gandhi). As they have (repeatedly) lost elections, they have started abusing me," Modi said.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a rally for election in Lunawada town of Panchmahal district of Gujarat on Saturday. Photograph: PTI Photo