PM doesn't have to get 'visas' from 'shehzadas' Akhilesh, Rahul to hold roadshow: BJP
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't have to take visas from 'shehzadas' Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi to meet the people and to offer prayers.
The comment was in response to the complaint Congress filed with the Election Commission over the 'unauthorised' roadshow of Modi in Varanasi.
"We don't have to take permission from these 'shehzadas' Akhilesh and Rahul to hold rally, meet with the people and offer prayers. It is the PM's own constituency and he can go visit any day he wants to. They are just scared and that is why they are making such statements," BJP leader Shrikant Sharma told ANI.
He further said the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance is in a state of panic as it will face humiliating defeat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Hitting out at Modi for visiting a temple during his Varanasi roadshow, the Congress on Sunday said doing politics over 'worship' doesn't suit his stature.
"Everybody goes to the temple but when a Prime Minister visits a temple for personal benefit that too while campaigning, it doesn't suit him. Politicising worship and devotion doesn't suit him," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI.
Asserting that the rally of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was better than that of Prime Minister, Dikshit said one could clearly see there is a wave in favour of the Samajwadi Party- Congress alliance in Varanasi.
Prime Minister Modi on Saturday offered several litres of milk, Ganga jal and flowers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple and performed aarti at the sanctum sanctorum during a break in his roadshow.
Wooing the electorate in his constituency, Prime Minister Modi yesterday asserted that he has made Kashi his 'Karya Kshetra' so that the BJP can regain the pride of the region, which has lost its shine under the current Samajwadi Party Government.
Expressing confidence, the Prime Minister said that even if he had not visited Kashi, his own constituency, the BJP would have emerged victorious, adding he, however, still wanted to come and address the people as they were close to his heart.
"Back in 2014, I could not visit Varanasi as the Election Commission did not allow me to carry out a rally. Since then I have always wanted to come and speak to you. Kashi for me is not a political area, but I wanted to work here because I wanted to bring back its lost heritage," the Prime Minister said.