Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday led a fresh BJP offensive on the Congress over its leader Sam Pitroda's "so what" remarks on 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying it reflected the "character and arrogance" of the opposition party.
As Pitroda's remarks kicked up a storm, the Congress distanced itself from the comments and asked the leaders of the party to be careful and sensitive in future.
Pitroda on his part accused the BJP of twisting the three words in Hindi on the riots to "distort facts, divide us(Congress) and hide their failures" and said things of the past are not relevant in this election.
Pitroda, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi and Overseas Congress' head, on Thursday said, 'hua to hua' (So what, it happened) about the anti-Sikh riots. He made this remark in response to a question on the riots by a newsman in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP demanded that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi apologise to the nation while ally Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife and union minister Harsimrat Kaur said the comments were "disgraceful" and reflected the mindset of the Gandhis.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it is a matter of disgrace that the party had no remorse over the Sikh killings and wondered if Rahul Gandhi would "oust his Guru" for the remarks.
Latching on to Pitroda's remarks, Modi kept up his attack on the Congress while addressing poll rallies in Rohtak and Mandi in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh respectively
How Congress ran this country for 70 years, how their mind works, how they are filled with arrogance, they themselves yesterday summed this up in three words
"Truth is being distorted, lies are being amplified through social media and targeted. People are systematically being intimidated. However, truth will always prevail and lies will be exposed. It is just a matter of time. Have patience."
"Today, he has made an even a more dangerous statement. He says that I can acknowledge the pain of Sikh community, but it is not relevant today."
Another union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Pitroda had rubbed salt into the wounds of the riot victims
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra at a press conference in Delhi in the presence of Nirpreet Kaur, a witness to the riots, said the language used by Pitroda is comparable only to the "insensitive, inhuman" remark made by Rajiv Gandhi who in the aftermath of the "genocide" said that "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes."
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