Congress PMs were also popular abroad: BJP's ally Shiv Sena

MUMBAI: At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun tom tomming his government's achievements among the Indian diaspora abroad, BJP's ally Shiv Sena seems to question Modi's achievements.

In a rather thinly-veiled editorial in the party mouth piece 'Saamna' the party tried to downplay Modi's popularity among the Indian diaspora abroad and said that even Indira and Nehru were also quite popular, 'without the social media.' Not just that the Sena editorial also said that the investments sought by Modi were welcome, but said that India didn't need investments in the form of 'garbage'.

"Indira and Rajiv were also quite popular in foreign shores. Nehru has admirers even today in Russia and America. They were popular even during the times when there was no media or social media,"said the editorial.

Questioning Modi's investment pitch abroad, the editorial says that the US is only interested in India as a market and a counter to balance China and nothing else. "The US is exploiting as as the English did earlier. Why doesn't Obama take India's side in the Kashmir dispute or stop the millions of dollars of aid to Pakistan.

We cannot appreciate countries like France setting up nuclear plants in Jaitapur just to ensure that their companies like Areva don't suffer losses," it said. It adds, "Our politicians should not get in to the business of shoving some else's rubbish on us."

The Sena editorial points out that while Modi is popular it could not ignore the role played by two former PM Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in bringing in investment to the country. It commends Indira Gandhi for bringing in Doordarshan to people's homes and her son Rajiv for bringing in the Information revolution in the country.