Congress removed Sitaram Kesri to make way for Sonia Gandhi: PM Modi

The war of words between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party over the appointment of a Congressman from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family does not seem to end at anytime soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that Dalit leader, Sitaram Kesri was not allowed to complete his term as party president and thrown out of the office to make way for Sonia Gandhi as new party chief because he does not belong to Nehru-Gandhi family.

While addressing a public meeting in Mahasamund on the last day of the electoral campaign in the poll-bound state Chhatisgarh, Modi said that Sitaram, a Dalit leader was “thrown into the footpath” by the family who ruled the country for four generations.

Make a person outside the Nehru-Gandhi the Congress Party President for five years and I will agree that Pandit Nehru made a ‘Chaiwallah’ the PM.

India has not forgotten how a stalwart like Sitaram Kesri Ji was treated by one family. pic.twitter.com/f4HC0XJii7

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 18, 2018

Adding on he alleged that the family “benefited from being in power”, but the country did not benefit from their rule.

Continuing his attack on Nehru-Gandhi family, Modi said, “Earlier Delhi had a remote-controlled government. The remote was in the hands of a family which was afraid of the BJP.”

Earlier, Modi had challenged the Congress to appoint someone “capable” as their party chief who doesn’t belong to the Gandhi clan. “Remember the days when four generations of a family ruled the country. What was the fate of people? They only thought about the welfare of one family but never gave a thought about the welfare of people. How can we trust them that they will fulfil aspirations of people now,” he said.

Chhattisgarh Government under @drramansingh Ji was never treated properly by the remote controlled UPA Government.

In the last five years, NDA Government at the Centre and the State Government here have worked together at a remarkable pace for the growth of Chhattisgarh. pic.twitter.com/SHljTIV2PC

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 18, 2018

The PM Modi also alleged that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was also troubled by the then Congress government at the Centre. “For 10 years, the Centre was ruled by a ‘remote-control’ government which never paid attention towards Chhattisgarh,” he alleged.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur address asking Congress party to name all the presidents that were ‘outside the Nehru-Gandhi family’ for at least five years. Congress Party has launched a counterattack against PM Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and asked them to name the numbers of presidents that were ‘outside the Sangh Parivar’

Former Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram in a stern reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday listed out 15 names of political leaders, who have served as the President of the Congress party outside the Nehru-Gandhi family.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram had hit back at Modi, saying he was grateful that the PM was “concerned” about who is elected as Congress president and devoted a lot of time talking about it. Chidambaram also asked PM Modi if he would spend half that time to talk about demonetisation, GST, Rafale, CBI and the RBI.

Also read: ‘Name presidents of BJP outside Sangh Parivar’: Congress