PM Modi has lowered dignity of his office: Congress

The Congress Party on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lowered the dignity of his office and is not subscribing to a healthy democratic discourse.

Congress leader Anand Sharma dubbed Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's remark that Prime Minister Modi was the 'worst victim' of rivals' ideological intolerance to be ironical.

"The Prime Minister who is authoritarian, who is the first Prime Minister to have centralized all decision making and policy making in the PMO, who is disrespectful of the opposition, intolerant of criticism, that the Finance Minister is seeking to defend the indefensible," Sharma told ANI.

He accused the BJP-led NDA Government for turning a deaf ear to the anguished protests of the writers against the rising intolerance in the nation.

"Instead of listening to the anguished protest of a large number of eminent Indians who have made notable and creative contributions, they (BJP) are heaping in suns on them," he said.

"The Prime Minister stands fully exposed of his mindset which is narrow, sectarian. The statements that he makes are inflammatory and divisive. You cannot call him a leader who actually is subscribing to a healthy democratic discourse," he said.

In a Facebook blog post titled 'Ease of Doing Business', Jaitley had yesterday said that Prime Minister Modi has been "the worst victim of ideological intolerance" since 2002.

He also stated that the government was trying to accelerate India's growth.

"There are many who have never intellectually accepted the idea of the BJP being in power. This obviously includes the Congress, Left thinkers and activists. Over decades they have practised ideological intolerance towards the BJP. Since 2002, the PM himself has been the worst victim of ideological intolerance," he said.