'I sold tea, not the nation': PM Modi attacks Congress

Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], Nov 27 (ANI): Latching on to the Congress, more than twice, taking reference to his beginning as a tea vendor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attacked the grand old party over the numerous scams that allegedly took place under the UPA's tenure.

The prime minister said he might have sold tea to earn a living, but never sold his nation.

"The Congress dislikes me because of my poor origin. Can a party stoop so low? Yes, a person belonging to a poor family has become the prime minister. They do not fail to hide their contempt for this fact. Yes, I sold tea but I did not sell the nation," Prime Minister Modi said, while addressing a rally in Rajkot, here.

The political slugfest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached a new low when 'Yuva Desh', the 'Indian Youth Congress' online magazine, tweeted a derogatory meme attacking Prime Minister Modi, a few days back.

Also, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had, in January 2014, before the Modi-wave took the nation by surprise, said "Modi would never become prime minister, but he was welcome to serve tea to Congressmen."

Meanwhile, the prime minister further slammed the Congress saying the party never accepted any Gujarati leader and defamed the state.

"It was with the support of the Jan Sangh that a person from the Patel community, Babubhai Patel, became the chief minister. The Congress did not like this and ensured that Babubhai Jashbhai's government did not last. When Keshubhai Patel, a son of Saurashtra, became the chief minister, the Congress tried everything to dislodge him. They repeated the same disruptive tactic with Anandiben Patel, a daughter of the Patel community. The Congress has defamed Gujarat always," he said.

"While a new party came up in Delhi, whose style is to keep abusing and running away, I thought the Congress, being an older party would not indulge in such politics. But they have also taken this short cut in the past two months and only hurled abuses and lies," Prime Minister Modi further said, alluding to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.

"Pitting one caste against the other is the Congress' tendency. Make sure that you do not let them destroy the composite culture of Gujarat," he concluded his tirade. (ANI)