On a day Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers for the election of party president, Congress leaders were busy fighting off Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks casting aspersions on the organisational elections.
At a rally in Gujarat, Modi had latched on to a part of Congress veteran Manishankar Aiyar's remarks invoking Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's ascension to the throne, in connection with the party's internal elections.
This set off a competition of sorts among Congress leaders to denounce Modi's remarks. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no business commenting on Congress' internal matter," Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters at the AICC headquarters.
Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Rajiv Shukla, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mohsina Kidwai among others hit out at Modi.
Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, hailed the contribution of the Nehru-Gandhi family to modern India saying "no other family has made as many sacrifices as the family of Rahul".
"It is obvious for some political parties to get disturbed as they stand to be compared with the glorious traditions of the Congress party. For these parties, democracy means manipulation of EVMs," Azad told reporters here.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former chief minister of Haryana, asked Modi to introspect about the internal poll processes within the BJP. "The immense response to Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat and all over the country has got the BJP leadership worried. This is the reason the prime minister is chanting Rahul's name all along," former union minister Rajeev Shukla said.
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