Punjabis don't need lessons from Modi on nationalism: Tewari

Senior Congress leader and party candidate from Shri Anandpur Sahab, Manish Tewari Thursday said that Punjabis do not need any lessons on nationalism from anyone, much less from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In an interaction with reporters after attending several party meetings here, Tewari also condemned Modi for "stooping very low to abuse" former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with "utter lies".

"Majority of the freedom fighters who went to jail or laid down their lives for the freedom of the country were Punjabis and all of them were Congressmen," he said when asked how the party was going to counter the "nationalist narrative" of the BJP.

Asking Modi to name a single nationalist who shared the BJP's ideology, Tewari said the saffron party "stood nowhere" in comparison to the Congress when it came to sacrificing lives for the unity and integrity of the country.

"Ms Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, late Beant Singh, my father Prof Vishwanath Tewari and scores of other Congressmen have laid down their lives for the country," he pointed out.

"Can Mr Modi mention a single BJP leader who has laid down his life for the country?," he asked.

Refusing to comment on Akali candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra's claim that Shri Anandpur Sahab was a 'panthic' seat, Tewari stressed that for him, every seat in Punjab was panthic as everyone believes in the panthic ideals of universal brotherhood and non-discrimination.

Maintaining that Chandumajra was entitled to his own opinion, the Congress leader said his opponent was feeling frustrated over the resentment he was facing from people in the constituency.

At several places, people have confronted him (Chandumajra) with "go back" slogans as he has completely failed them during the last five years, Tewari claimed.