Modi today is all about self-promotion, Sam Pitroda
Veteran BJP leader L K Advani's assertion that his party did not consider political adversaries as anti-national was "timely", Congress leader Sam Pitroda said on Friday.
He also drew parallels between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a gathering at an event organised by the All India Professionals Congress, the technocrat-turned-politician also said there was "something wrong" with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) though he could not point it out.
"I think what he has said is very timely and important," he said in reply to a question about Mr Advani's statement in a blog Thursday.
"He said two things - first nation, then party, then self. Modi today is all about self-promotion. Two, he said if somebody disagrees with us, doesn't mean they are anti-national. I respect that, I agree with him. I thank him for saying this at the right time. That is a leader," Mr Pitroda said.
Taking potshots at PM Modi, he said there were similarities between him and Donald Trump. "Both leaders are saying enemy is at the border. Here it is Pakistan and Muslims. There it is Mexicans and immigrants. Both leaders are saying nobody (else) knows anything ... (In India Modi is saying) Congress didn't do anything, (Trump is saying) Democrats didn't do anything. (Trump said) Hillary Clinton was corrupt, (Modi says) Rahul Gandhi is corrupt," Mr Pitroda said.
Recalling a meeting with former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr Pitroda said he was "spontaneous", did not have to make an effort to be amiable and was a good human being. "That's what India's PM has to be," he added.
To another question, Mr Pitroda, chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, said something was wrong with EVMs.
"I can't put my finger on it and say this is it.. One is (possibility of) tampering of the electronic, other is supply chain, where it is stored, who keeps track of it, how do you count it. No one in the world is using electronic machines the way we use. Everyone has said there is no trust. The US, Germans, nobody trusts but we do," he said.
The coming election was the "most important election in modern history of India", he said. "Like Rahul Gandhi has been saying, India's soul, future, the idea of India is at stake....we believed in truth, trust, love, inclusion, non-violence, democracy, freedom. All of these are being challenged today," he said.
He also alleged that Indian media has been bought, and unlike in the US, "institutions have been captured systematically" in India.