Congress slams Narendra Modi for attacking PM

NEW DELHI: Congress today decried NarendraModi for attacking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying Independence Day is not an occasion for "partisan debates and power hungry squabbles" and political parties should not look for self-seeking opportunities.

"Independence Day is a national festival, a sacred template that stands high in the collective conscience of the nation. The Prime Minister's speech on the occasion is a non-partisan national statement of intent and purpose," AICC General Secretary and in-charge of party's communication department Ajay Maken said.

"I appeal to the members of fellow political parties that they unitedly hold the sanctity of the day so that the generations to come continue seeing August 15 as the template of freedom and unity rather than an opportunity for self-seeking," he said.

Earlier, Congress leaders hit out at Modi for attacking Singh, saying he was indulging in "petty politics" and rejected as "tall talk" his challenge to the PM for a public debate.

"Prime Minister will come last. Let him debate with us first," Union Minister Salman Khurshid said here when asked about the Gujarat Chief Minister's challenge to the PM.

He said Modi is "so restless to become something big in the country" that he forgets that this is a day when political differences are forgotten.

To a question about Modi comparing his speech with that of the Prime Minister, Khurshid said it was a case of "tall talk by a person with small stature (Chhota munh badi baat)".

"Petty politics must not be allowed...," he said to a question at to whether politics is taking over Indo-Pak relationship.

Modi, in his Independence Day speech in Bhuj, slammed the Prime Minister for India's "weak and feeble" response to provocations from Pakistan and China.