India has two 'rashtra pita', Narendra Modi father of New India: Amruta Fadnavis
Nagpur (PTI): Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the father of New India, adding the country has two rashtra pita' (father of the nation).
"We have two rashtra pita'. Narendra Modi is the father of New India and Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation of earlier times," Amruta, a banker and singer, said during a mock court interview.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Yashomati Thakur slammed the senior BJP leader's wife over the remarks.
"People following the BJP and RSS ideology keep trying to kill Gandhiji again and again. They keep doing such things as they are obsessed with changing history by repeating lies and maligning great people like Gandhiji," Thakur said.
In the mock court interview (abhirup nyayalay), Amruta was asked about her calling Modi as rashtra pita last year. The interviewer asked her if Modi is the rashtra pita, then who is Mahatma Gandhi.
Amruta replied that Mahatma Gandhi is the country's rashtra pita and Modi is the rashtra pita of New India. "We have two rashtra pita; Narendra Modi is the rashtra pita of New India and Mahatma Gandhi is rashtra pita of that (earlier) era," she added.
Amruta's remarks came days after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari faced flak from Opposition over his remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
After he was slammed by the Opposition for his comments on the Maratha warrior king, Koshyari had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah explaining his stand and clarifying he would "never even imagine" insulting such icons.
"I cannot even imagine in my dreams to insult icons like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Maharana Pratap and Shri Guru Govind Singh. You are aware that I do not hesitate to express regrets or apologise immediately even if I unintentionally made a mistake," Koshyari wrote in the letter addressed to Shah.
The letter came amid demands by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance that Koshyari be removed from his post for insulting Shivaji Maharaj.
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Niqab incident: Nitish Kumar perhaps revealing his true colours, says J-K CM
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised his Bihar counterpart over the niqab incident and said that Nitish Kumar might be slowly revealing his true nature.
"Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a secular leader, may be slowly showing his true colours," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Abdullah said Kumar removing the face veil of a Muslim woman doctor was wrong and cannot be justified by any means.
"We have seen this kind of incident here several years ago. Have you forgotten how Mehbooba Mufti removed the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? That act was wrong, and this act (of Kumar) is also wrong.
"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Kumar stirred a huge controversy after he removed the face veil of a Muslim woman at a function earlier this week.
