Amartya Sen should amend his statement on 'nation's heartbeat' Modi: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday backed party MP Chandan Mitra's remarks against Noble laureate Amartya Sen, saying the renowned economist should amend his statement as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is the heartbeat of the nation now.

BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that he is amazed at Sen's statement because it is rather judgemental.

"And economist, a Noble prize winner should refrain from making (such comments). I am sure he is going to amend his view, what the BJP expects now. I have nothing to add to what Chandan Mitra has said, but what the BJP would (want) that he should amend his statement," said Rudy.

"Mr. Modi is the heartbeat of the nation now. And I am sure he may have some bias, but such a statement coming from a person like him is rather unacceptable to the Bharatiya Janata Party," he added.

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra had earlier in a television interview suggested that Amartya Sen be stripped off the Bharat Ratna.

"Amartya Sen says he doesn't want Modi to be India's PM. Is Sen even a voter in India? Next NDA government must strip him of Bharat Ratna," he said during an interview to CNN-IBN.

Amartya Sen earlier on Monday came out strongly against Modi, and said he does not want him to become India's Prime Minister as he does not have secular credentials.

He also criticized Modi's model of governance, saying he did not approve of it.

"Yes, I don't want him," Sen told CNN-IBN in reply to a question on whether he wanted him as his Prime Minister.

"As an Indian citizen, I don't want Modi as my PM. He has not done enough to make minorities feel safe," he said.

Elaborating on his comment, the renowned economist said, "He could have, first of all, been more secular and he could have made the minority community feel more secure."

"No, I don't approve of it. I don't think the record is very good. I think I don't have to be a member of the minority in order to feel insecure. We Indians don't want a situation where the minority feel insecure and could legitimately think that there was an organised violence against them in 2002. I think that is a terrible record and I don't think the Indian Prime Minister as an Indian citizen, who has that kind of record. No, I do not," he said.

Sen said the physical infrastructure in Gujarat may be good but Modi has not done enough for minorities or for the majority population. He also said that the Gujarat model needs to do much more on the health and education sectors.

He said Modi could have made the majority community feel that they are not maltreating the minority and going against the Indian tradition of being tolerant.

"He could have also taken both of the facts-that Gujarat's record in education and healthcare is pretty bad and he has to concentrate on that-as much as he is concentrating quietly on the physical infrastructure," he said.

The renowned economist's criticism of the Gujarat Chief Minister came just days after he was appointed as the chairman of BJP's election campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.