New Delhi:
The comment that never was came in handy for BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Rohini in North West Delhi. Speaking to an estimated 1.5 lakh people who turned up to listen to him at his first rally in the national capital after his elevation, Mr Modi said, "(A journalist said) Nawaz Sharif called the PM '
dehati aurat' or a village woman. There can be no greater insult of India's PM and of the country. This was only possible because his own party has not respected him. His own party leader called him nonsense. Congress Vice-President has insulted PM."
The retort from the Congress was quick. The AICC General Secretary and In-charge of communications, Ajay Maken, said, "He calls himself a nationalist but believes the version of a Pakistani journalist, without checking with Indian journalists on this which turned out to be a complete lie." Digvijaya Singh quipped, "He is doing another '
feku' (a reference to an oft-repeated sobriquet used for Modi on social media) on us."
The Pakistani media too clarified that the alleged snub from Nawaz Sharif to Dr Manmohan Singh was never made, with the journalist in question, Hamid Mir saying, "Nawaz Sharif didn't say anything derogatory about Manmohan Singh. He did not insult him at all." It did provide fresh ammunition to Narendra Modi just two days after Rahul Gandhi's surprise statement on the ordinance on convicted lawmakers, that was seen as an open insult of the PM.
Mr Gandhi was the target once again when Mr Modi took a dig at dynasty politics adding, "You have to choose, what do you want: dynastic politics or democracy. Dynastic politics is strangulating democracy. Will this country run basis constitution of as per 'shehzada' or prince's wishes? Will it run on his whims?"
Mr Modi then went a step further mimicking the PM drawing sharp reactions from the Congress with spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit saying, "At a rally where he said we shouldn't insult the PM, he mimicked him. Mimicry is the worst form of humour."
With elections around the corner he also targeted Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit accusing her of passing the buck to either the BJP controlled municipal corporation or the central government when it came to issues of corruption, development of women's safety. This was Mr Modi's first rally in the power centre of the country after he was named his party's prime ministerial candidate and he tried to hit the right notes with the crowd, even inviting several diplomats to the rally.
But with the controversy over the uncharitable comments on the PM, that in fact turned out to be false, the last words on this certainly haven't been spoken yet.