BJP should see Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's comment as an 'eye opener': Congress

A day after Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said that he would not like to see Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Prime Minister's chair as he did not have secular credentials he was claiming to have, Congress leader Jagdambika Pal said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should see this statement as an "eye opener" and as a warning sign.

"He (Amartya Sen) is an acclaimed figure outside the world of politics, being a Nobel Laureate. He has honestly said what he feels as an individual, and, in a democracy, there are differences. These differences are good and make for a good democratic nation. However, what he (Amartya Sen) has said (in regard to Modi) without having anything to do with any political party is something that the BJP should take as an eye opener", Pal said here this morning.

Yesterday, Sen told a television channel during an interview that Modi could have done more for Gujarat's education, health and for secularism, instead of focusing solely on physical infrastructure development in that state.

Referring to Modi, Sen said "I think I would like a more secular person to be prime minister. I would not like a prime minister who generates concern and fear among minorities. That is the primary reason. I am in favour of someone who looks at social administration and not just business administration seriously. That doesn't mean that I don't see what he has done and why people admire him."

Sen went a step further in saying that as an economist he didn't approve of the 'Modi model' of governance saying, "I don't think the record is very good. I don't have to be a member of the minority in order to feel insecure. I could be a member of the majority."

Sen said:"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 Indian Prime Minister as an Indian citizen ... Of who has that kind of record. No, I do not.