Ex-PM asks Prez to ‘caution’ Modi

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind urging him to “caution” Prime Minister Narendra Modi against using “unwarranted, threatening and intimidating” language against leaders of the Congress or any other party as it “does not behove his position”. Terming the letter as a “diversionary tactic” by the Congress on the eve of its “impending loss” in Karnataka, the BJP asked the Opposition party not to point fingers at it.

The letter also includes a YouTube link to the speech. “The President may caution the Prime Minister from using such unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language against leaders of the Congress Party or any other party or person as it does not behove the position of the Prime Minister,” it said.

The high-octane election campaign in Karnataka saw an exchange of barbs between the Congress and the BJP.

According to Congress leaders, Mr Modi’s speech on May 6 at Hubli in Karnataka, in which he is quoted as saying “Congress ke neta kaan kholkar sun lijiye, agar seemaon ko paar karoge, to yeh Modi hai, lene ke dene pad jayenge” (Congress leaders should clearly hear out, if you cross limits, then this is Modi and you will have to pay a price), was tantamount to a “threat”. The Prime Minister, the letter stated, is not expected to use menacing language even in the course of an election campaign. This is tantamount to a PM using his powers and privileges to “settle personal and political scores”, it said. Referring to the oath of office, it said the Prime Minister of India holds a very special position under the Constitution.

“We would like to state that neither the party nor our leaders will be cowed down by such threats,” the letter said, adding that the President was the constitutional head of the Union of India and had the duty and obligation to advise and guide the Prime Minister and his cabinet. The letter was also signed by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Digvijaya Singh, Ambika Soni, Kamal Nath, Karan Singh, Mukul Wasnik, among others.

Reminding the Congress and its leadership that terms like “maut ka saudagar” were used against Mr Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister and indecent words were used in Karnataka against party president Amit Shah by some Congress leaders, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the Prime Minister uses decorous language while the Congress leadership had broken all records in sing indecent language in public. Another party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi reminded Dr Singh that it was the former vice-president of his own party (Rahul Gandhi) who had personally dishonoured the former PM when he had torn the ordinance against corrupt politicians. Dr Trivedi said it was during Congress rule that the level of personal attacks against opponents had stooped to the lowest levels. The BJP’s official Twitter handle also listed the various “indecent words” used by Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, B.K. Hariprasad, Digvijaya Singh, among others, against Mr Modi and Mr Shah.