Vibha Sharma
New Delhi, October 11
The BJP appears to be in no mood to let go of the “neech aadmi” comment by an AAP leader with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself today using it to attack the two main political rivals in poll-bound Gujarat– Congress and AAP.
Addressing a public rally on the last day of his three-day visit to the state, PM Modi hit out at the Congress saying that seems to have outsourced the “gaali” contract to AAP.
While cautioning party leaders against Congress, the PM said it appears that it has outsourced the job to abuse him. Though he did not take the name of AAP, it was clear who he was aiming at.
Notably, a video of AAP’s Gujarat convener Gopal Italia calling PM Modi “neech aadmi” (a lowly person) and BJP’s counter attack has sparked a new controversy in the poll-bound state with both parties accusing each-other of “insulting” certain communities.
While BJP is calling Italia’s video an insult to the OBC communities to which PM Modi belongs, AAP, which too tweeted a video of Delhi MP Parvesh verma abusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is seeing BJP’s offensive against Italia “an attack on all Patels”.
AAP is also accusing BJP of using “propaganda and tactics to divert attention from real issues like unemployment and price rise” in the poll-bound state. Senior BJP leaders had on Sunday shared the video in which Italia can be heard calling PM Modi “neech aadmi”, a reminiscent of senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s similar jibe against him.
Though the video is said to be “an old one”, the BJP used it to accuse AAP of “insulting all OBCs” (the caste segment to which PM Modi belongs) and the “democratic and Parliamentary process of the country”.
अरविंद केजरीवाल और मणिशंकर अय्यर में कोई अंतर नहीं है।
दोनों की भाषा का स्तर, दोनों की राजनीति करने का तरीका एक जैसा ही है।
– डॉ. @sambitswaraj pic.twitter.com/cVLlm2wvsx
— BJP (@BJP4India) October 10, 2022
Claiming that AAP was calling “all backward classes of Gujarat ‘neech'”, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said: “They are not able to digest the fact that Modi, who belongs to the OBC, became the Prime Minister of the country. Are you calling the backward class neech? If someone from the poor section of society becomes a PM, he is neech? Kejriwal is busy calling himself Krishna and his party is calling the PM neech”.
“AAP will face the same fate as Congress did after Aiyar used the words for the PM. Modi hails from Gujarat and using such remarks against him is an insult of Gujarat too. Everyone has seen the condition of Congress in the entire country. Arvind Kejriwal is using the exact same language today,” Patra said.
AAP leaders say an “old video” had been “heavily edited and taken out of context”. Its Gujarat spokesperson Karan Barot said before joining BJP, Hardik Patel too “abused the PM so many times” and that it was nothing but an attempt by the ruling party to divert the attention from “real issues like price rise and unemployment.”
Italia said that BJP was “harassing him because he is a ‘Patel'” and that it proved its “anti-Patel mindset”. “People of Gujarat do not want to watch Gopal Italia’s video, they want accountability on issues like unemployment and price rise,” he said.
AAP leadership in Delhi reminded BJP Verma’s “abusive speech” against Kejriwal with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh challenging BJP leaders to share his video.
.@Gopal_Italia उस पटेल समाज से आते हैं जिनके लोगों को BJP ने गोलियों से भुनवाया था
पूरी BJP उनको Target कर रही है, हिम्मत है तो MP @p_sahibsingh का Video जारी करो जो CM के लिए ऐसी भाषा का प्रयोग कर रहा है
BJP का इतना वीडियो जारी करूंगा, आवाज निकलना बंद हो जाएगी
–@SanjayAzadSln pic.twitter.com/cvhltlhye2
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 10, 2022
“Gopal Italia belongs to the same Patel community which was gunned down by BJP; if BJP has any guts, they should also release the video in which their MP Parvesh Verma can be seen abusing CM Arvind Kejriwal. If BJP president JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Smriti Irani or any other BJP leader has any moral courage left, they should tweet the video of their MP Parvesh Verma abusing CM Arvind Kejriwal.”
“AAP is officially releasing this video today and BJP should answer if such a person deserves to be their party’s MP? Did you take any action against him? Did any of your leaders condemn his words? Someone from the Patel community has risen to become an AAP leader in Gujarat, and these people are behind him to throttle his neck,” he said.
