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Modi raises Sonia`s foreign origin issue
Coimbatore, Aug 01: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today raised the issue of foreign origin of Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying that it was `ridiculous` that certain political parties opposed his visit to the city to participate in the rath yatra organised by BJP while she can move anywhere in the country.
Coimbatore, Aug 01: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today raised the issue of foreign origin of Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying that it was "ridiculous" that certain political parties opposed his visit to the city to participate in the rath yatra organised by BJP while she can move anywhere in the country.
"When a daughter of Italy can move in the country, why not a son of India visit Coimbatore?" Modi said, reacting to opposition from the Tamil Nadu unit of Congress whose working president E V K S Elangovan had sought a ban on his entry to Coimbatore.
"It is ridiculous," Modi said, adding that he had visited various states in the country and also Coimbatore a few times but nobody had raised any objection. Asked why he was raising the foreign origin issue of Sonia Gandhi when Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani were keeping silent, Modi said, "People are talking." The question of a person of foreign origin becoming Prime Minister was "debatable," he said.
Asked whether he was making efforts to propagate Hindutva in Tamil Nadu by coming to the city, Modi said that this was not his first visit to Coimbatore.
On Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's support to Ram Temple in Ayodhya and uniform civil code, Modi said, "Jayalalithaa is senior to me. I respect her and she is bold." To another question on opposition from DMK to these issues, he said there was always scope to hold talks with DMK as it is partner in the NDA. "We can sort out (issues) after meetings," he said.
Bureau Report
"It is ridiculous," Modi said, adding that he had visited various states in the country and also Coimbatore a few times but nobody had raised any objection. Asked why he was raising the foreign origin issue of Sonia Gandhi when Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani were keeping silent, Modi said, "People are talking." The question of a person of foreign origin becoming Prime Minister was "debatable," he said.
Asked whether he was making efforts to propagate Hindutva in Tamil Nadu by coming to the city, Modi said that this was not his first visit to Coimbatore.
On Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's support to Ram Temple in Ayodhya and uniform civil code, Modi said, "Jayalalithaa is senior to me. I respect her and she is bold." To another question on opposition from DMK to these issues, he said there was always scope to hold talks with DMK as it is partner in the NDA. "We can sort out (issues) after meetings," he said.
Bureau Report