Congress likens Modi to blind king Dhritarashtra

Congress on Saturday reacted sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement quoting a news report that Congress is a "party for Muslims", and accused him of "spreading the poison of hatred" in society and "lies".

AICC communication department chief Randeep Surjewala drew a parallel between Modi and "Dhritarashtra", the mythological blind king of the epic 'Mahabharata'.

Hours after Modi, addressing a rally in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh accused Congress of being a party only for "Muslim Men" and attacked Rahul Gandhi for meeting Muslim intellectuals, Surjewala said that Modi "huffing and puffing due to fear of defeat" is "spreading the poison of hatred and divisiveness".

"The truth is that he has become blind like Dhritarashtra out of his revengeful thoughts for Congress and Rahul Gandhi," he said.

Terming the Prime Minister as a "Master of lies", the Congress spokesperson accused him of "misleading the nation by spreading lies about Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh".

Recalling a number of promises made by Modi during 2014 Lok Sabha polls regarding recovery of black money, petrol prices, Dalit atrocities and farmers, Surjewala said "good days now will come only when Modi goes."

Chidu hits out

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram took to Twitter to train guns on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she said that Congress should be blamed if any disharmony happens before 2019 polls.

"The Defence Minister says there are 'plans to incite riots in the run-up to Lok Sabha election'. She should share her secret (?) information with the Home Minister. After taming Pakistan, eliminating terrorism, stopping infiltration and acquiring Rafale aircraft, the Defence Minister has all the time in the world to inquire into the religious affiliations of parties and persons!" he tweeted.