File picture of Narendra Modi.
New Delhi:
With less than a day left for campaigning for the ninth and final phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections to come to an end, Narendra Modi stepped up his assault on the Congress, and its president Sonia Gandhi, for practising the politics of "untouchability and hatred" and unch aur neech (high and low).
"As a Party President, using terms like Unch and Neech does not suit Madam. Is the fear of defeat so much that she has to say such things?" Mr Modi tweeted this evening. "If someone does politics of untouchability, it is the Congress and those who made their political careers by following votebank politics," another comment posted by him on the microblogging site said.
"Kerala Minister who came to meet me was reprimanded. Cong leader wanted Lata ji's Bharat Ratna taken back.This is politics of untouchability," said another tweet. The reference point was Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's decision to pull up his ministerial colleague Shibu Baby John after he met Mr Modi at his Gandhinagar residence in April last year.
In November, Mumbai Congress president Janardan Chandurkar had demanded that Bharat Ratna be taken back from legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar as she had endorsed Mr Modi.
The BJP leader cited these instances as proof that Congress believed in politics of "untouchability." It formed a recurring theme in his speeches at the five public meetings addressed by him in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar earlier in the day. As many as 18 parliamentary constituencies in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and another six in north-western Bihar, go to polls in the ninth and final phase of voting on May 12. Mr Modi sought to capitalize on Mrs Gandhi's remarks, made at a rally in Uttar Pradesh yesterday, blaming him for resorting to 'neech' (low-level) politics.
Mrs Gandhi scaled up her confrontation with the BJP's prime ministerial candidate by justifying her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi's statement accusing him of indulging in 'neech' politics.
"As a Party President, using terms like Unch and Neech does not suit Madam. Is the fear of defeat so much that she has to say such things?" Mr Modi tweeted this evening. "If someone does politics of untouchability, it is the Congress and those who made their political careers by following votebank politics," another comment posted by him on the microblogging site said.
"Kerala Minister who came to meet me was reprimanded. Cong leader wanted Lata ji's Bharat Ratna taken back.This is politics of untouchability," said another tweet. The reference point was Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's decision to pull up his ministerial colleague Shibu Baby John after he met Mr Modi at his Gandhinagar residence in April last year.
In November, Mumbai Congress president Janardan Chandurkar had demanded that Bharat Ratna be taken back from legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar as she had endorsed Mr Modi.
The BJP leader cited these instances as proof that Congress believed in politics of "untouchability." It formed a recurring theme in his speeches at the five public meetings addressed by him in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar earlier in the day. As many as 18 parliamentary constituencies in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and another six in north-western Bihar, go to polls in the ninth and final phase of voting on May 12. Mr Modi sought to capitalize on Mrs Gandhi's remarks, made at a rally in Uttar Pradesh yesterday, blaming him for resorting to 'neech' (low-level) politics.
Mrs Gandhi scaled up her confrontation with the BJP's prime ministerial candidate by justifying her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi's statement accusing him of indulging in 'neech' politics.
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