Congress slams PM Narendra Modi for wearing 'Italian glasses' on Kedarnath visit

Several Congress leaders took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wearing Italian glasses in front of the shrine at Kedarnath.

AICC In-charge of Communications, Randeep S Surjewala took to Twitter to post a video and posted comments slamming Modi for BVLGRI glasses at the shrine, while at the same time accusing him of being "arrogant".

In his Kedarnath visit, Modi had attacked the Congress for his proposal in June 2013 when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat for development of shrine after the 2013 flash floods in Uttarakhand.

Congress, apart from taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi for quoting wrong facts on the redevelopment of Kedarnath shrine, also claimed that he disrespected the people of Uttarakhand.

मोदीजी,काश भुनाने की राजनीति छोड़, बुलगारी के इटालीयन चश्मे उतार, राहुलजी की तरह 18 कि.मी चल व विनम्र भाव से बाबा की भक्ति करते #Kedarnath pic.twitter.com/JB2ylsPi9V

— Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 20, 2017

Surjewala, in a video message on Twitter, lashed out against the Prime Minister, saying: “He spoke with arrogance at Baba’s shrine”. He further added that this was the first time somebody gave a speech with his back towards the shrine.

बाबा केदारनाथ के द्वार पर मोदीजी के अहंकार की इतनी प्रकाष्ठा।
बाबा सेवा के अभिलाषी नहीं।हाँ, निस्वार्थ सेवा व्यर्थ नहीं जाती। मेरा वक्तव्य- pic.twitter.com/Tvfcgq8tb6

— Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 20, 2017

Surjewala in the video message further went on to say: “By visiting Kedarnath today (Friday), Modiji has not only disrespected the people of Uttarakhand but also showed his arrogance.”

Surjewala’s remarks came after Prime Minister accused the Congress of rejecting his proposal of redeveloping the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath after the 2013 flash floods.

To counter the same, Congres spokesperson RPN Singh said that after the flash floods the UPA government had formed a Cabinet Committee and released Rs 8,000 crore for Uttarakhand's redevelopment.

Continuing his attack, Singh added that Modi’s labelling himself as “Baba’s son” is a “political gimmick” ahead of the elections.

The Congress spokesperson added: “Prime Minister does Baba’s darshan wearing an Italian brand BVLGARI glasses. Similarly, he promises to develop a ‘New India’ through those Italian glasses.”

In his speech, Modi said after the BJP government came to power in Uttarakhand earlier this year “I understood that the work of Kedarnath redevelopment will be done by us”.

"After the 2013 disaster, is it only Modiji who is capable of redeveloping Uttarakhand? Was the work done by the then state government, people and the devotees of Lord Shiva to redevelop Kedarnath a waste? Out of 130 crore people, is none capable of redeveloping Kedarnath other than Modiji?" said Surjewala in his Twitter video.

Last year, BJP Chief Amit Shah had accused Rahul Gandhi of shedding his “Italian glasses” and switching to “Indian” ones for seeing the development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“No other person can protect the shrine except Baba Kedarnath,” Singh said in a bid to further slam PM Modi for his comment that he was the only one who could work for the redevelopment of the shrine.

“Modiji should maintain at least some humility at the door of Lord Shiva,” Surjewala added.

“Even Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi went there as a devotee. One cannot go there as an arrogant person,” said Singh.