BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain today criticized the Congress leadership's decision to endorse their chief ministers decision not to share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at public functions.
Hussain said such a thing had never happened before in the country.
The Congress leadership's decision came after Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had vowed not to attend Prime Minister Modi's functions after he was booed by BJP supporters at an event in Kaithal recently.
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said, "PM Modi believes in team India and wants to take everyone along. He also believes in constitutional integrity. In every program, the chief ministers are respectfully called, but if Congress chief ministers are not attending rallies because they are facing a complex due to Modi's popularity, then they should think about constitutional propriety."
"It has never before happened in the country that a chief minister has announced that he would not attend the Prime Minister's programme," he added.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also slammed the Congress for running away from Prime Minister Modi's 'mantra'.
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Naqvi told ANI, "The Congress can run away from Modi's dais but how long will they run away from Modi's 'mantra'? They have been running away from development and good governance and that is why they are in such a state. Modi's 'mantra' is of development and good governance. If they are running away from that, then it's their wish."
Congress leader Rashid Alvi, however, defended the Congress party's decision to not share a dais with the Prime Minister.
"There is a protocol that if the Prime Minister arrives, the CM should reach. But whatever happened in Haryana, if Congress CMs' are hooted at, if they are not allowed to speak, it is unfortunate. This is the reason the Congress had to take this step," Alvi told ANI.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj , too, had decided to boycott Prime Minister Modi's event in Nagpur, where he is scheduled to inaugurate the Nagpur Metro rail.