`Achutanandan`s Amul baby comment uncivilised`

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday snubbed Kerala Chief Minister VS Achutanandan for his comment describing Rahul Gandhi as a `Amul baby`.

New Delhi/Kolkata: Kerala Chief Minister VS
Achutanandan`s description of Rahul Gandhi as a `Amul baby`
was today dismissed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as
`uncivilised` and the Congress said the comment by a person
about to become `history` was an insult to country`s youth.

"Such type of comments are insult to the youth community
of India. People who are about to become history in few days
are insulting the youth of the nation through such comments,"
party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in New
Delhi.

Mukerjee earlier in the day said at a
meet-the-press programme in Kolkata, "I do not react on
uncivilised comments. That is my stated position. But it
speaks of the individual taste of the person and culture."

Singhvi said, "The community of youths in every nook
and corner of the country want a change of direction and
energy and no other political party has a youth symbol
compared to Rahul Gandhi.

"This is an insult to that resurgence, that energy and
that momentum. Such comments betray the desperation and
realization of this truth by such persons."

Achutanandan yesterday hit back at Rahul for taking a
jibe at him over his advancing age, saying the Congress leader
came to poll-bound Kerala to campaign for `Amul babies` as he
was himself a `Amul baby`.

Asked whether Congress endorsed Gandhi`s comments on
the Kerala Chief Minister`s age, Singhvi said that Rahul was
talking about "anachronistic policies".

"Rahul Gandhi never made a personal remark. Age or
person was not an issue. He was talking about anachronistic
policies...the impatience of the youths of India find
expression in comments of such youth icons. It should not be
construed as a personal attack," he said.

Singhvi was responding to questions how can Gandhi
comment on the age of Achutanandan, when Congress is in
alliance with DMK in Tamilnadu which projected 87-year-old M
Karunanidhi as its Chief Ministerial candidate.

Congress`s Kerala unit also ticked off the CPI-M
stalwart for his comments.

In a statement issued in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala PCC
President Ramesh Chennithala said, "Achuthanandan has lowered
his stock himself by trying to ridicule Rahul Gandhi...it is
quite unbecoming of a person holding a high position to run
down a widely respected leaderlike Rahul Gandhi by using
intemperate language," he said.

Congress leader Anil Shastri, camping in Kerala, said
"I expect Achuthanandan to use the language befitting his
age of 87 years and his position as Chief Minister of
Kerala.... Achuthanandan should now start preparing to pack
his bags for a relaxed retired life after May 13,(counting
day)."

87-year-old Achutanandan`s dig at Gandhi(40), projected
as the youth face of the Congress, came after the Congress
leader said at a campaign meeting in Kerala on Saturday that
if LDF was re-elected, Kerala would have a 93-year-old as
Chief Minister in five years time.

PTI

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