“Earlier, the BJP was seeking bricks (to build the temple in Ayodhya). Now Modi is seeking iron (for the Patel statue). Later, he will seek gold, and a time will come when he will seek a wife from the people. Modi is a ‘bewa‘ (widower),” Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Mannan Mallick said in Dhanbad on Monday.
The Congress party has disowned his statement even as state BJP chief Rabindra Rai demanded immediate removal of the minister.
“The minister is mentally sick and Chief Minister Hemant Soren should remove him from the Cabinet. How can a mentally sick person work as minister,” Rai asked.
“We have come to know about the statement. We disown the minister’s statement and there is no place for such language in politics,” Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Shailesh Sinha told mediapersons.
Modi had addressed a rally here Sunday to criticise Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his party for Jharkhand’s problems.
State Congress chief hit back on Monday, saying BJP was to blame for all the problems since they were in power for 10 years, and demanded an apology from Modi for misleading people.
“The BJP ruled for 10 of the 13 years of formation of the state. The misrule of the BJP in the state is responsible for the misery of the state. Modi and BJP should apologise to the people,” Jharkhand Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat said.
