A Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late father ahead of his visit to the state, prompting the ruling BJP to accuse him of having "low-level mentality".
PM Modi is scheduled to virtually address Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers across 10 lakh booths in the country on June 27 from Bhopal, a senior party leader said on Wednesday.
Responding to a question asked by reporters on the PM's planned visit to the state, Congress leader and former Union minister Arun Yadav said, "Modi ji can come. Those above him can also come. Nadda ji (BJP chief) is coming. If Modi ji's father wants, he can also come, we have no issue."
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He was speaking to reporters at the state Congress office. Criticising him over the remark, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a statement, "The comment made by Yadav reflects his low-level mentality...This shows Congress's culture and their 'mohabbat ki dukan' (shop of love)."
"Modiji is the pride of the nation and also the self-respect of the citizens of the country," he said. Congress is going down to the lowest level and when it is unable to compete with the popular prime minister on the ground, it has stooped to using indecent and uncultured language, he said.
"Yadav has crossed all limits of political decency," the chief minister said.
State BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma also slammed Yadav for "dragging the name of PM's late father into the political slugfest", and termed it as disrespect for the 140 crore citizens of the country and demanded an apology from him.
Home Minister and state government spokesman Narottam Mishra said Yadav's remark reflects that Congress leaders have become "completely uncultured".
Assembly elections in the state are scheduled by the end of this year.