Cong's Jairam Ramesh echoes Advani's 'event manager' remark about PM Modi after Bharat Ratna announcement

NewDelhi: As LK Advani was chosen for Bharat Ratna, Congress on Saturday said the veteran BJP leader had saved Narendra Modi’s Chief Ministership after Gujarat riots in 2002 but 12 years later he had also shown the “real face” of the Prime Minister when he called him a “brilliant event manager”.

The remarks indicating that the announcement too was “event management” were made by Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh during a press interaction during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mohanpur in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district.

When asked for his reaction, Ramesh said Advani had saved the career of Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister when then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee was of the view that he had to resign. The then Prime Minister had advised Modi to follow ‘raj dharma’, he said.

“But in Goa (BJP meeting), Advani saved Modi. If there was someone who had saved Modi then, it was Lal Krishna Advani,” he said.

“Fast forward to the scene in Gandhinagar on 5 April, 2014. Narendra Modi and Advani-ji are going to file poll nominations. Advani-ji gave a famous statement on that day – Narendra Modi is not my disciple but a brilliant event manager,” he said.

When he thinks about them, Ramesh said, he recalls “these two things, how Advani saved Modi in 2002 and how Advani-ji in 2014 put the real face of Modi before the country”.

However, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Shukla posted on 'X' that he was "happy to know" about Advani being chosen for the honour. "He has made immense contributions to public service. An outstanding Parliamentarian, he is respected across party lines," he added.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said he was glad that Advani, who made "immense contributions to the development of the country, would be conferred Bharat Ratna.