'Untouchability' of Narendra Modi vote-bank politics, says BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP has said that the 'politics of untouchability' witnessed in the country against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was the "worst kind of vote bank politics".

"A peculiar kind of untouchability is sought to be maintained in the politics of the country... It is an indication of the worst form of vote-bank politics... BJP criticises such kind of politics," BJP's chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said here on Monday.

He was reacting to recent instances, including Shahid Siddique being disowned by SP for interviewing Modi and Congress MP Vijay Darda describing the chief minister as a "lion of Gujarat".

He alleged Congress had Modiphobia and that it was all directed at deflecting from the focus on development of Gujarat, which was headed for elections this December. He said that critics of Gujarat riots were silent on the violence in Congress-ruled Assam.

"Anyone who lauds the positive things happening in Gujarat is attacked...This is not democracy... If certain leaders honestly appreciate the positive good governance and development in Gujarat, they immediately become victims," Prasad said.

The Congress MP, whose remarks were being scrutinised, almost ate his words saying he was not praising Modi. "I called him the lion of Gujarat... I didn't say he was a national saint," Darda said.

The Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra had said at a function in Ahmedabad on Sunday "the kind of environment created over here...I know this is due to the roar of Gujarat's lion... Modi's commitment and dedication towards work bears resemblance to that of a lion."

It was not just the political class which frowned at Modi lauding. Yoga guru Ramdev's offering a clean chit to Modi on Sunday in Ahmedabad, where the two shared dais did not go down well with Team Anna. Ramdev had said he has not come across any wrongdoing by Modi, while addressing a gathering at an award event.