Trump calling Modi India's father: Mere rhetoric, not to be taken seriously, says D Raja

CPI general secretary D Raja on Wednesday said that the US President Donald Trump's statement calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "Father of India" was "hyperbole", mere "rhetoric" and should not be taken seriously.

Trump on Tuesday heaped praise on Modi in New York, saying "I remember India before was very torn. There was a lot of dissension, fighting and he brought it all together. Like a father would. Maybe he is the father of India".

"Mr Trump is known for making such hyperbolic statements and resorting to such rhetorics. Let us not take it so seriously. It is the people of this country who will decide who they want to respect and call Father of India. They have already bestowed this title on Mahatma Gandhi who is called the Father of the Nation," said Raja.

He also reacted to Union Minister Jitendra Singh's comment that those who do not feel proud of US President Trump's comment that PM Modi is the father of India, do not consider themselves Indians.

"It is an absurd statement made by the minister. Who is Trump? He is only the President of the USA. Should he decide who the father of India is? Friendship is another thing, we don't care for that relationship. What we care about is the relationship between the two countries. Whether India gives up its sovereign policy to the US or can resist it, that is the concern," he said.

Reacting to Trump's comments, CPI leader Atul Kumar Anjan quipped," Thank god that Trump did not compare Modi to Martin Luther King".