Headlines
Modi 'deserted' wife, says Congress' Kamat; BJP hits back
Mumbai, Jan 27
Congress leader and former
union minister Gurudas Kamat Tuesday made a scathing attack on Narendra
Modi, saying the prime minister was "still married" and had "deserted"
his wife. The BJP promptly ticked him off, saying he has "lost his
mental balance".
Kamat termed it "a shame" that Modi had deserted his wife of over four decades.
"He
is still married, they are not divorced... he has deserted her.
Jashodaben is a great woman. She is praying for him in temples," he
said.
The Congress leader further said that in contrast, Modi has
made a new woman like Smriti Irani a cabinet minister, given her full
security and also a bungalow.
"But his wife, who is a village
school teacher, is languishing and travels in public buses and
autorickshaws, with the SPG following her in vehicles," Kamat said at a
Congress protest rally against the Maharashtra government and the
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai over his various public demands.
He
said Modi fought many elections but kept his marital status secret. For
the first time in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he admitted he was
married.
"This is because the whole country and the Election
Commission was keeping a watch on it as he could have faced problems.
What message is being conveyed to the nation? Get married and then
desert your wife?" Kamat demanded.
He questioned the special treatment being meted out to Irani while Jashodaben was left uncared for by Modi and his family.
"They
talk about 'Beti Bachao' (Save the Girl Child) and 'Ghar Wapasi'
(Homecoming). It should begin at home, first he should ensure 'ghar
wapasi' of his wife," Kamat said.
The comments evoked sharp
reactions from various BJP leaders, with legislator Atul Bhatkalkar
ticking him off for losing his "mental balance".
"Kamat has lost
his mental balance. The Congress and its leaders have lost their sanity
after losing several recent elections. This is why they keep making
personal attacks on the prime minister," Bhatkalkar said.
In the
first rally against the BJP-led state government after losing the
October assembly elections, hundreds of activists of the Mumbai Regional
Congress Committee led by president Janardhan Thakur protested what
they termed "anti-people policies" of the state and the civic body.
They
also released a 15-point charter of demands on housing, transportation,
civic amenities, infrastructure facilities, slum-dwellers' problems,
tax rates etc.