New Delhi/Lucknow, July 12 (IANS) Another controversial comment by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari has set off a new war of words with the Congress – this time for referring to senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh as ‘Aurangzeb ki aulad’ or the offspring of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Gadkari made the comment about the Congress general secretary July 4 in Lucknow, the same day he termed parliament attack convict Afzal Guru as the ‘son-in-law’ of the ruling Congress.
Though the comment was made last week, it suddenly came into prominence Monday after Digvijay Singh chose to retaliate, alleging that Gadkari’s rise to the top position in the BJP was because he was a neighbour of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supremo Mohan Bhagwat.
‘Gadkari could rise to this height simply because he was a neighbour of (Mohan Bhagawat) the RSS supremo,’ Singh said in Lucknow.
However, the BJP maintained the comment hasd been taken out of context by the Congress. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in Delhi: ‘He (Nitin Gadkari) has not said anything as alleged by Digvijay Singh. These are baseless allegations.’
Congress spokesperson, Manish Tewari, adding to the exchange, said in Delhi: ‘Obscene and unparliamentary language should be avoided in politics… If a politician or an organisation repeatedly resorts to obscene language it reveals the character of that individual and the organisation.’
Digvijay Singh also reacted to the BJP’s ongoing campaign against the UPA government’s dilly-dallying over Afzal Guru’s hanging. He said, ‘I would like to know why Lal Krishna Advani sat over the hanging issue when the BJP government was in power for six years.’
He also questioned the BJP president for nominating leading lawyer Ram Jethmalani to the Rajya Sabha. ‘May I ask him what was his connection with Jethmalani that he chose to award him a Rajya Sabha ticket?’ Singh asked.
Jethmalani was Afzal Guru’s lawyer in the Supreme Court.
