New Delhi, Jun 26: Congress yesterday stepped up its attack on Narendra Modi accusing him of telling a "lie" and being "selective" when he claimed that he saved 15,000 people Gujratis, who were stuck in Uttarakhand flash floods.
"In times of such tragedies, you cannot be selective about whom do you want to rescue. It's a very sorry state of affairs if some people engage in such things. During the times of such calamities, it should not matter to which caste or state people belong," party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told reporters alluding to Modi's reported rescue act.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh was acerbic in his criticism of the Gujarat Chief Minister saying "Feku comes and claims that he has rescued 15000 people. Don't lie this much."
Feku was a hashtag on Twitter used by Congress supporters sometimes back to dismiss the Gujarat Chief Minister's claims on development and his other remarks.
"It is strange that the Army, the Air Force, paratroopers are all engaged in rescue operations day and night and this man (Modi) comes in and claims he has rescued 15,000 people. Don't lie so much Mr Modi, the people aren't that stupid," Singh said.
Congress leaders and Union ministers have ridiculed Modi's visit to Uttarakhand and his claim that he had helped in evacuating 15,000 Gujaratis in two stays with the party also saying he was trying to be a "Rambo" and was making the trip for "photo-ops".
But BJP President Rajnath Singh hit back at Congress for attacking Modi's rescue efforts and said no politics should be played on such a sensitive issue.
"As far as the calamity in Uttarakhand is concerned, I would like to say that no political party should do any politics. If a Chief Minister or any political party wants to help the victims of the Uttarakhand incident then I feel this help should be accepted," Rajnath told reporters.
"Any politics being done on the issue by the Congress is condemnable," he said.
