The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday backed the Gujarat Chief Minister despite party stalwart Lal Krishna Advani advising him not to politicise Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's Independence Day address, and said the ruling Congress Party is suffering from Narendra Modi 'phobia'.
"We respect Advaniji's every word, but the fact remains that Congress can't set time for statement to be made. The Congress should instead set a 'Mahurat' for themselves to give answers, rather than setting time for us to criticize," said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman.
"The entire Congress Party's 'Modi phobia' gives us this suspicion that they don't even do their daily duty as ministers," she added.
Advani on Thursday indirectly cautioned Modi in the wake of his criticism of the Prime Minister's speech, saying that we should not criticize each other and appealed to everyone to work towards the development of this country.
"Today is our Independence Day, and today, we should not criticize each other, on the contrary we should understand that India has unlimited potential for the future," Advani had said on Thursday.
"I appeal to everyone that we should work in such a way that the world should admit that there is no comparison to India in this whole world," he added.
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Modi had dubbed the Prime Minister's speech as uninspiring, and accused him of taking a soft stand against Pakistan despite the recent ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC).
Addressing the people of Gujarat on the occasion of Independence Day in Bhuj, Modi pointed out the failures of the UPA Government, especially with regard to the Prime Minister's omission of making a strong statement against Pakistan during his Red Fort Independence Day address.
Describing the Prime Minister's address as a 'disappointment', Modi alleged that Dr. Singh's speech mimicked that of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's on the country's first Independence Day, and questioned what the Congress had done if our problems still remain the same.
"The Prime Minister echoed the concerns that Pandit Nehru expressed at his first address. The question, then is, that what have you done in the last 60 years?" Modi said.
"I challenge the Prime Minister to an open debate on all key issues," Modi added.
