The day when ED attached assets of Rs 751 crore in National Herald probe, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi Panauti (bad omen) saying that his (PM's) entry in the stadium led to the defeat of Indian team in the World Cup Finals
During a rally in Udaipur, Rahul responded to somebody in the crowd who loosely pronounced the word “panauti”, in the air.
Rahul picked it up and said, “Haan … panauti, panauti … acha bhala waha pe humare ladke World Cup jeet jaate, waha pe panauti harwa diya. TV wale ye nahi kahenge magar janta jaanti hai (Our boys were easily going to win the World Cup but the ‘bad omen' made us lose. The media won't point this out but people know).
He later said that “PM means Panauti Modi”.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had called Modi Chaukidaar and coined a slogan Chaukidaar Chor hai, which he sounded in all his rallies.
The Congress could not gain from it and lost the elections badly.
The Prime Minister Modi gained then also when he was chief minister of Gujarat and Sonia Gandhi had called him Maut ka Saudagar. Even the ‘neech' terminology by Mani Shankar Aiyar benefitted him.
BJP comes down heavily on Rahul
The BJP however reacted strongly to Rahul Gandhi's statement and said that the remarks of Rahul Gandhi is shameful.
BJP MP and former Union Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said the Congress leader's choice of words was wrong. “Rahul Gandhi chose the wrong words. What has happened to him?” he asked.
He said his party condemned Rahul's remarks and sought an apology from him at the earliest. He recalled Rahul's mother Sonia Ganghi calling PM Modi ‘maut ka saudagar' at a poll rally in Gujarat. “Your party has not been able to win in Gujarat after your mother's remarks. You should learn from the past.”
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too, condemned Rahul's comments. While addressing the media in Hyderabad, she said, “It's such a despicable comment. He (Rahul Gandhi) is continuing the Congress tradition of calling all abusive names for Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Is that how sports is going to be encouraged? Is that the route through which Congress wants to encourage sports in the country?”
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