Jaipur: Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar on Saturday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying the country's main opposition party cannot hold a 'Chitan Shivir' like the ruling party at the Centre as they are the puppets of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"They (BJP) should announce their leader. They are fighting like cats and dogs. We are having our 'Chintan Shivir' here, they can''t even hold a 'Shivir' like this because they are the puppets of RSS what will they think. They are anxious, but they very well twisted the words and said that it's not Congress’ 'Chintan Shivir' but the Congress is nervous. This is their thinking. The people have rejected them," he said, when asked about the Congress party's prime ministerial candidate in 2014.
Aiyar further said that he would like Narendra Modi to be the NDA's prime ministerial candidate because if a communal leader like the Gujarat Chief Minister occupies the centrestage then the Congress party will automatically emerge victorious in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
"I expect that Modi will become their leader. And if Modi becomes their leader then the NDA will collapse and we will automatically win the elections without contesting it," Aiyar told mediapersons on the sidelines of the Congress party's 'Chintan Shivir' here.
"I want Modi to become their leader because of unlike reasons because I believe that if a communal leader who is against the poor becomes the leader of opposition then our win is guaranteed," he added.
BJP leader Kirti Azad hit back at Aiyar, saying does the Congress lawmaker has any answers for his comment that all the people in the Congress are pets of a single family.
"It's unfortunate that you have Mani Shankar Aiyar using such words. Yesterday he said that if there is slight price rise, the people of the country start crying. Today he says they (BJP) are fighting like cats and dogs. I mean what if I say that all the people in the Congress are pets of a single family then does he have an answer for that," Azad told the media in New Delhi.
"If he thinks that the NDA is not going to stay as one if Narendra Modi is taken as a Prime Minister then he should be happy. What is the problem with him then?" he asked.
Many speculate that it would be a face-off between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi for the prime minister's post in 2014.
ANI
First Published: Saturday, January 19, 2013, 12:21