Congress leader Pawan Khera speaking at the press conference on Friday New Delhi:Congress leader Pawan Khera is getting hauled over the coals on Twitter after he floundered with Prime Minister's father's name and called him Narendra 'Gautamdas' Modi during a press conference earlier on Friday. Though the leader has clarified it was a genuine mistake, several BJP leaders and supporters are grilling him for the alleged 'mockery of Prime Minister's father'.
During the press conference on Friday in New Delhi, Khera was slating the Prime Minister for his hesitance in complying with the Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the ongoing Adani-Hindenburg row.
"If Narsimha Rao had no problem setting a JPC, if Atal Bihari Vajpayee could set a JPC, then what problem does Narendra ..... uhm Gautamdas.... sorry, Damodardas Modi have?" he asked, followed by floundered 'Is it Gautamdas or Damodardas?'
In what seemed like a damage-control attempt, Khera further said, "Naam Damodardas hain, lekin kaam Gautamdas jaisa hain. (The name is Damodardas, but actions are like Gautamdas)," as he chuckled, followed by a laughter from the audience before he continued to speak.
The video, reposted by several leaders, mired Khera into a spiteful controversy. Taking to Twitter, BJP leader Amit Malviya claimed it to be yet another of Congress' attempts at atrgetting Modi's 'humble family background'.
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"The Congress has repeatedly targeted PM Modi for his humble origins and now they haven’t even spared his dead father, who had nothing to do with politics…Congress’s deep seated sense of entitlement and disdain for a self made man doesn’t sit well with an aspirational India," Malviya's tweet caption posted with Khera's video read.
Noting the act as 'absolutely disgusting', another BJP leader Priti Gandhi also took to Twitter to take a dig at the Congress leader. "Pawan Khera has become so desperate to prove his credentials and worth to his bosses that he has stooped to slandering the Honourable Prime Minister's father. Absolutely Disgusting!!" her tweet posted on Monday read.
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, also reacting to the video, said Khera has dug his own grave. Posted with Khera's video, the tweet caption read, "People embarrassed to use own family’s name eg; ‘Rajiv ‘Firoze’ Ghandy, Sonia ‘Stefano’ Ghandy, Priyanka ‘Robert’ Vadra. PIDIS are ridiculing one who uses his legacy with pride. This joke will cost heavy. After Manishankar Iyer, Pawan Khera has dug his own grave."
Issuing a clarification, Khera claimed it was a genuine confusion that led to the blunder. "I genuinely got confused whether it is Damodardas or Gautam Das….," he tweeted, even as the BJP leaders and supporters continue to take a dig at the Opposition leader.
