"Yes, I sold tea but not the nation", said Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying back Congress in the same coin for its "chaiwala" jibe.
"The Congress dislikes me because of my poor origins. Can a party stoop so low? Yes, a person belonging to a poor family has become Prime Minister. They do not fail to hide their contempt for this fact. Yes, I sold tea but I did not commit the sin of selling the nation," Modi said while addressing a rally here in Gujarat.
"They (Congress) have insulted the poverty...they have insulted the mother... I am son of this soil and have been your friend of good and bad days," he added.
Modi's remarks come in the wake of a Youth Congress magazine publishing a meme calling Narendra Modi a "chaiwala" (tea vendor). Modi has himself said that he used to sell tea along with his father at their small tea stall in Gujarat before he joined politics.
Accusing the Congress of spreading lies, Modi said that the opposition party has been engaged in creating an atmosphere of pessimism.
"Gujarat is my Atma, Bharat is my Parmatma. This land of Gujarat has cared for me; Gujarat has given me strength... They are coming to Gujarat and spreading lies about a son of Gujarat. Earlier they did that with Sardar Patel also. Gujarat will never accept this. No Gujarati will accept the lies that they are spreading," he said.
--IANS
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