Patna:

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday referred to Amruta Fadnavis’ ‘Father of the Nation of New India’ comment to take a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested what has the “‘new father’ of ‘new India’ done for the nation?”

Amruta Fadnavis, spouse of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on December 21, had referred to as PM Modi, the ‘Father of the Nation’ of ‘New India’.

Taking a potshot close to the comment, Kumar stated, “They had nothing to do with the fight for Independence. RSS didn’t contribute to the fight for Independence…we read about the remark ‘New father of the nation’…what has the ‘new father’ of ‘new India’ done for the nation?”

Earlier on December 21, Amruta Fadnavis had stated, “India has two fathers of the nation. One belonged to the India of yore and the other is for a new India. I believe that Mahatma Gandhi is the ‘Father of the Nation’ of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the ‘Father of the Nation’ of new India.”

Retorting to the comment, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole stated that Mahatma Gandhi can’t be in contrast with anybody and took a jibe on the BJP’s “new India.”

“Father of the nation can’t be compared with anyone. Their (BJP) ‘new India’ is only about making a few friends super-rich while the rest of the population remains downtrodden and hungry. We don’t need this ‘new India,” Patole stated.

“If they want to make Modi ji ‘Father of the Nation’ of new India just for few rich businessmen then let them make. I congratulate them for the same,” Patole stated.

Senior Congress chief Pramod Tiwari additionally hit out on the remarks made by the spouse of the state’s deputy chief minister.

“There can be two fathers in BJP but not in the country. There’ll be only one Father of Nation…” Tiwari stated.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)