![\"BJP,](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134370702,imgsize-48144,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/pm-modi-mimicry-at-rahul-gandhi-event.jpg\" "\\"PM")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: BJP on Sunday criticised the Congress after stand-up comedian Pulkit Mani mimicked Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an event attended by party leader Rahul Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh, with Union ministers and other BJP leaders targeting the opposition party and Congress MP over the performance.The comedian performed the skit with the Rae Bareli MP during the latest edition of the \u2018Chhatron Ki Goonj\u2019 event in Indore on Saturday. A video of the performance was shared by the Congress on X.In the short act, Mani came on stage laughing and hugged Rahul. \u201cMy friend. How are you?\u201d he said. The Congress leader replied, \u201cI’m fine; how are you, Modi ji?\u201d Mani responded, \u201cGreat harassment\u201d, and continued laughing while repeatedly using the phrase \u201cmy friend\u201d.Rahul then said, \u201cVery nice to meet you,\u201d and asked Mani to \u201ctell me more\u201d. The comedian continued laughing and hugging Gandhi before saying, \u201cMaa ko kursi do, maa\u201d, while pointing towards the audience.<\/p>\n Union minister Piyush Goyal reacted to the performance on X, calling Rahul \u201cAsanskari naraz fufa (uncultured disgruntled uncle).\u201d\u201cThe irony writes itself. The need to come on stage every now and then just to drag Prime Minister Modi ji’s name into cheap political theatre never fails to amaze me,\u201d Goyal said, asking the former Congress president to \u201clook in the mirror\u201d.Union minister Kiren Rijiju also criticised Rahul, saying, \u201cI hadn’t imagined that a party which was in power for nearly six decades would turn into such a circus that is busy entertaining their own shrunken supporters.\u201dRijiju said Indians were proud that Prime Minister Modi was the \u201cmost popular\u201d elected leader in the world.\u201cCongress party has become a party of comedians and Jokers! They are out forever…. RIP,\u201d he said.\u201cDo you feel absolutely no shame in mocking an elderly mother and the Prime Minister of India?\u201d Rijiju asked Rahul, while posting a video of PM Modi in which the prime minister is seen asking for a chair for an elderly woman who had attended one of his programmes.BJP national general secretary Smriti Irani also reacted to the controversy, writing in Hindi on X, \u201cJab nash manuj per chata hai, pehle vivek mar jaata hai\u201d (When doom looms over a person, it’s his conscience that dies first).BJP national secretary Sandeep Pathak called the mimicry act an expression of \u201cdesperation\u201d and the \u201cgrowing intellectual bankruptcy\u201d of the Congress.\u201cWhen you lose touch with India’s values, you lose touch with India itself. And that is precisely where the Congress has lost its way,\u201d Pathak, a Rajya Sabha MP, said on X.<\/p>\n Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel hit back at the BJP’s criticism, saying every person’s mother deserved respect and questioning why similar concerns were not raised when the mothers of Rahul and other leaders were allegedly insulted.\u201cEveryone’s mother is a mother, not PM Modi’s mother alone. Why are their feelings not hurt when they insult Rahul Gandhi’s mother or other leaders’ mothers? This culture of insulting mothers was started by BJP-RSS and Mahamanav,\u201d Baghel said.Congress MP Imraan Masood said the \u2018Chhatron Ki Goonj\u2019 programme had \u201cshattered eardrums\u201d of BJP leaders.\u201cLet the elections come. They will find out soon enough. ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ has shattered their eardrums. They see Rahul Gandhi in their dreams and wake up with a start,\u201d Masood said in Ranchi.Congress leader TS Singh Deo said criticism and mimicry should not be objected to, but opposed the use of abusive language in public conversations.\u201cI do not think it is acceptable to stoop to the level of abusive language in a public conversation. But beyond that, if you’re criticising someone in a normal way, even in a joking manner or with mimicry, no one should have any objection to it,\u201d he said in Raipur.<\/p>\n Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBJP leaders hit out at Rahul Gandhi<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Congress leaders defend programme<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n