PM Modi's 'murkhon ke sardar' remark on Rahul Gandhi triggers barb battle between BJP, Congress

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], November 14 : The Congress Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been indulged in a war of words over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on Rahul Gandhi wherein the PM called the Wayanad MP 'Murkhon Ke Sardar' after the latter's claim on the dominance of "Made in China" mobile phones in India.
Hitting back at PM Modi, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel said that the PM has 'abused' the public with his remarks against the Congress leader.
"The Prime Minister's ego has increased so much that now he is abusing the public," he said.
However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the public to which Baghel was referring would be living on some other planet, not in India.
"...Once a person said Indira is India and India is Indira, that time has passed. If Bhupesh Baghel thinks that Rahul Gandhi is the public then that public will not be the public living in India, that public would be living on some other planet. No Indian public considers themself to be one with Rahul Gandhi..." Sarma said.
He also said that what the PM spoke about Rahul Gandhi is 'definitely true'.
"...Yes he definitely is. There is nothing new in that. People all over India know what he is. You must have seen him in Parliament how he used to approach the Prime Minister...He keeps talking about 'Mohabbat' and 'Dukaan'. Can 'Mohabbat' and 'Dukaan' be together? 'Mohabbat' means true love and 'Dukaan' is for sale and purchase...So love can never have a shop. Someone gives a script to Rahul Gandhi and he just reads it. He is trying to show him as an angry young man. So that's why I think that what the Prime Minister has said, everyone in India knows it. This is what is in everyone's mind," he added.
PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi without taking his name and mocked the Wayanad MP calling him 'Murkhon Ke sardar' after the latter's claim on the dominance of "Made in China" mobile phones in India.
Addressing a rally in Betul district of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the PM took a swipe at the Congress and said that the leaders of the party have this mental disease of not recognising the achievements of their own countrymen.
"One wise leader of the Congress said yesterday that everyone in India has 'Made in China' mobile phones. Arre Murkhon ke Sardar, (the leader of stupid people) in which world do you live! The leaders of the Congress have this mental disease of not recognising the achievements of their own countrymen," the PM said.
He further said that he 'wondered' which foreign lens the Congress leaders use as they are absolutely clueless about what is happening in the country.
"The leaders of the Congress are flying so high that they can't see the poor on the ground and are also clueless about the ground realities," the Prime Minister said.
Further, he claimed that India has now become the second leading manufacturer of mobile phones in the world.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP government and claimed that the Indian market is being dominated by Chinese products.
"Today, we see 'Made in China' on shirts, cameras, mobile phones. Have you ever seen 'Made in Madhya Pradesh' written on any product? The Congress wants to start factories in Madhya Pradesh so that the youth of the state get job opportunities. We hope a day comes when a youth takes out his mobile phone in China and that phone has been manufactured in Madhya Pradesh," Rahul had said at a rally in Madhya Pradesh.