New Delhi: Five years after Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s “neech aadmi” jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cost him dearly in elections in Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) found itself on a sticky wicket after a video in which the party’s state unit chief Gopal Italia purportedly calling the prime minister “neech” went viral on social media.
In 2017, Modi himself had reacted to Aiyar’s jibe by saying that he has nothing to say to such elements and noted his “value systems are strong.” On Monday, the BJP turned the heat on the AAP, with BJP leader Sambit Patra drawing a comparison between Arvind Kejriwal and Mani Shanker Aiyar.
“The kind of language that AAP has used for PM Modi, it reflects the kind of party it is. AAP and Kejriwal had said that they have come to change the character of the country. If they call a PM neech, and not once but many times, this shows the mentality of AAP. If I say that there is no difference between Kejriwal and Mani Shanker Aiyar it won’t be wrong. Aiyar too, when Modi ji was the chief minister of Gujarat and had not become the PM had said tu jaa kar chai bech. A result of this was that Congress got destroyed in Gujarat after this. Aiyar had also called PM neech and we have seen the fate of Congress. What is the difference between Aiyar and Kejriwal?” said BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra while addressing a press conference Monday.
In the video, Gopal Italia allegedly called PM Modi ‘neech‘ and said the party will meet the same fate as that of Congress whose leader had called Modi ‘neech’.
The viral footage has since been shared by a number of BJP leaders, who condemned Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP.
Italia’s comment comes at a time when PM Modi, as part of his Gujarat visit, inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects at Modhera village in Mehsana district.
“The result of Mani Shankar Aiyar’s language was that the Congress was completely destroyed in Gujarat. Everyone has seen the condition of Congress in the entire country. Arvind Kejriwal is using the exact same language today,” Patra added.
Patra said that earlier Kejriwal too had called PM Modi a ‘coward and psychopath’. “He had also called the PM a shameless dictator. Kejriwal and his party had also said that PM is a disease which we need to eliminate. The PM does not belong to a particular party but that of a country. He is a democratically elected PM. This is an insult to the democratic process of India,” he noted.
He also accused the Aam Admi Party of terming the backward classes of Gujarat ‘neech’ as they are not able to swallow the fact that Modi, who belongs to the OBC, has become the Prime Minister of the country.
“Are you calling the backward class neech? If someone from the poor section of society becomes a PM he is neech? Kejriwal is busy calling himself Krishna and his party is calling the PM neech,” the BJP spokesman reiterated.
“Gopal Italia, Kejriwal’s right-hand man and AAP Gujarat’s President, stoops to Kejriwal’s level, calls Prime Minister Modi “नीच”। Using such profanities and abusing Gujarat’s pride and son of the soil is an insult to every Gujarati, who has voted for him and the BJP for 27 years,” tweeted Amit Malviya, BJP’s IT cell chief, while sharing the purported clip.
Gopal Italia, Kejriwal’s right hand man and AAP Gujarat’s President, stoops to Kejriwal’s level, calls Prime Minister Modi “नीच”।
Using such profanities and abusing Gujarat’s pride and son of the soil is an insult to every Gujarati, who has voted for him and the BJP for 27 years. pic.twitter.com/5J2k8Ibmwv— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) October 9, 2022
“This is an old video, around 7-8 years old at least. The video has been heavily edited and things have been taken out of context. Hardik Patel who joined the BJP from the Congress has in the past abused the PM so many times. BJP’s own minister Meenakshi Lekhi had called the farmers mawali. So the important issue to focus on is price rise, unemployment and rather than focusing on that, BJP is busy creating propaganda,” said AAP Gujarat spokesperson Karan Barot.
Gopal Italia, who also held a press conference Monday, said that the BJP is harassing him because he is a ‘Patel’ and it displays the ‘anti-Patel mindset’ of the party in poll-bound Gujarat.
“If I’ve said anything wrong then hang me but give an answer to the 6 and a half crore people of Gujarat as to how they will get rid of unemployment and price rise. The people of Gujarat don’t want to watch Gopal Italia’s video but want accountability. People are asking about employment, price rise and BJP is diverting using videos and false propaganda,” Italia said.
While commenting on the controversy, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the BJP is “terrified and frustrated” about the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat and which is why “they (BJP) are uploading old videos”.
“They have shared a video of Gopal Italia when he was not even a member of AAP. Gopal Italia belongs to the Patel Community. The same community whose leaders were shot dead on the direction of BJP. They have lathi-charged the Patel community all the time. The same Patel community which is hated by BJP. Hence, the entire BJP is targeting Gopal Italia,” Singh asserted.
The AAP leader further added: “Someone from the Patel community has risen to become an AAP leader in Gujarat, and these people are behind him to throttle his neck. They cannot withstand the sight of upliftment of the Patel community, as they have always oppressed them.”
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