 "'Never heard of Salman Nizami': Congress rebuts Modi's charge, says he does not hold any party position")
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday said that Salman Nizami, who Prime Minister Narendra Modi cited to attack it, does not hold any position in the party, while hitting out at the prime minister for moving away from “real issues”.
Congress leader Rajeev Shukla told reporters that Salman Nizami doesn’t hold any position in the party.
“We have not even heard the name Salman Nizami. He holds no post in the party, we don’t know who he is. Maybe they (BJP) got a name from somewhere. If we start speaking like this, we can name anyone and call the person a BJP worker.
“They (BJP) have nothing more to say in Gujarat, they have no other subject. Who is Nizami, is he your (BJP) man?,” he asked.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the Prime Minister has moved away from the real issues.
“Going by the Prime Minister’s language and the allegations he is hurling, I can say that he is rattled. Defeat is staring at him and the BJP in the face. PM has moved away from the real issues. He is not talking of development, employment and economy…He is desperately seeking sympathy and support of the people through these actions and theatrical statements,” he said.
“PM and BJP president Amit Shah have been responsible for lowering the dignity of the debate. They drag the political discourse to a new low…PM should show some humility. He should apologise for the language and the words he has used about Mrs Gandhi (Sonia Gandhi) in the past, insulting his predecessors and Rahul Gandhi,” he added.
Addressing a campaign rally for the seats where polling will be held on the second and final phase on 14 December, Modi said Congress worker Nizami had questioned his ancestry.
Addressing a large gathering in Lunawada, he said: “Congress is asking who is my father and mother. I ask you brothers and sisters, do we talk in such language with even an enemy? A responsible Congress leader asked me that. Now I’ll tell you about him. He is originally a person from Azad Kashmir. Would you give your vote to such Azad Kashmiris?”
“Rahul Gandhi’s party is asking me who are my parents. The people of my country are my parents. I am the son of this soil, this Lunawada.”
Nizami, who is a Congress worker in Jammu and Kashmir, said: “I had filed a police complaint in 2015 when my fake Twitter account was created. Five to six accounts in my name were created. I have never used such words.”
“How can the Prime Minister quote from a fake Twitter acccount? Somebody may have hacked my account, who knows,” Nizami said.
He also expressed his sadness over the episode.
“Today again, a Kashmiri youth is being victimised. I have always raised my voice against terrorism. How can they call me Afzal Guru? It was a Congress government which executed Afzal Guru, and I support that party,” he said.
“I am very disappointed and hurt. I have always taken pro-India stand.”
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