Rajnath demands apology from Siddu for 'narhantak' jibe at Modi

Slamming Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for calling Narendra Modi a "mass murderer", BJP President Rajnath Singh today said he has to apologise for it or Election Commission should take "harsh" action against him.

"I have come to Karnataka for campaigning, I got to know today that Karnataka Chief Minister has called our Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi "Narhantak"... he has called him "mass murderer", I want to tell him that either he should apologise or I hope Election Commission will take harsh action," Singh told reporters here.

"I'm happy to know that election commission has taken note of this statement of the Chief Minister," he said.

"It is very unfortunate that a person occupying a constitutional post is using such type of word, and we don't have any word in our dictionary to reply to such statements," he added.

Stating that Modi's close confidant Amit Shah's "revenge" remark is being wrongly interpreted, he said, "BJP never believes in divisive politics."

"That is why I say if there is any big secular party in this country it is BJP and Congress is the biggest communal party; despite ruling for about 55 years there is neither social harmony nor communal harmony..."

Expressing confidence that BJP will achieve the magic figure to form the government, Singh said "...first time in the history of independent India, number of allies with BJP has crossed twenty-five. BJP which was considered politically untouchable today has more than twenty-five allies."

Questioning Rahul Gandhi's claim that poverty has subsided, he said, "If the poverty has gone down, then why has the subsidy for poor been increased in the budget..."

Charging that Congress led UPA has failed on all fronts, he said checking inflation is the big challenge for BJP once it comes to power.

"Our first step after forming the government will be to curtail price rise. It is fine even if it needs creation of a separate price stabilisation fund. We will try and create a balance between demand and supply; we will also review the Food Corporation of India's  purchasing policy.

"BJP is committed to meet all the challenges that are being faced by the country today," the BJP president said.