'Egoistic' Modi has no time for internal concerns of country: Congress

Lashing out at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for not attending the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting today, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla described the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate as egoistic in thought and supreme in addressing the nation's internal concerns.

Recalling that Modi had recently addressed Indian Diaspora in America, as part of his election campaign, Shukla said it was unfortunate that the Gujarat chief minister could not find time to attend a meeting of the NIC, which dealt with domestic concerns.

"He is already so egoistic that he thinks that all of these meetings are useless, and that he is supreme. Narendra Modi has time to address U.S. citizens, but does not have time to address discussions on internal harmony, peace, law and order of the country," Shukla said.

"At a meeting at which all the chief ministers of the country were present, Narendra Modi could not find time to attend the NIC. One can only imagine what he would do if, god forbid, he comes into a more important position of power in the country," he added.

The 148-member NIC will discuss among other issues safety and security of women, confidence- building measures taken to tackle communal disturbances and taking help from all sections of society in removing communal tension.

Union Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories are members of the NIC.

Leaders of national and regional political parties, chairpersons of national commissions, eminent journalists, public figures and representatives of business and women's organisations are also part of NIC.