File picture of union minister Jairam Ramesh.
Union minister Jairam Ramesh has shot off an angry letter to
Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, accusing him of making "outrageous statements" and telling a "blatant lie." (
Read full text of Jairam Ramesh's letter to Narendra Modi)
Mr Ramesh begins his letter with "My dear Shri Narendra Modi" and signs off with "I do not expect you to respond to the letter, but I thought I should set the record straight."
It takes on the BJP leader for alleging at a rally in Mr Ramesh's home district of Chikmagalur in Karnataka that the minister had called India the "dirtiest and laziest" country in his travels abroad. (
Full Coverage: Elections)
"I read in the newspapers this morning that at a rally of yours in Chikmaglur on April 13 you accused me of saying India is the dirtiest and laziest country in the world during my foreign visits...I know you make outrageous statements. However, even by your own standards, your accusation against me is bizarre," Mr Ramesh said in his letter. (
Elections Candidates |
Schedule)
He also added, "It is clear that even by mistake, you are clearly incapable of speaking the truth."
The minister has emphasised the word "never" twice by printing it in bold.
Mr Ramesh wrote that he had said in New Delhi about four years ago that "India deserves a Nobel Prize for filth," and that "I continue to hold this view."
He also reminded Mr Modi that the latter had agreed with him on the lack of sanitation in the country. "I have also said that India's salvation lies in sanitation and not just in spirituality, a view that I continue to hold and which you have also endorsed," Mr Ramesh said.
Mr Modi had said in his speech on Sunday, "Nowadays, there is a minister in the Congress who has studied in a foreign country and was born here in Chikmagalur...He says India is the dirtiest and laziest country in the world. What type of a son is he of Mother India. He goes to a foreign land, eats food in his aunty's house and starts abusing his mother (India)."
The minister has also denied as a "blatant lie" that Mr Modi had made a suggestion to him on boosting global sale of coffee from Chikmaglur.