JULY 18- Two statements Narendra Modi made to two journalists in his controversial “puppy” analogy interview have now reached billboards hanging above Mumbai’s busy roads.
“Main deshbhakt hoon. Main Hindu rashtravadi hoon (I am a patriot. I am a Hindu nationalist),” reads the large advertisement along with the Gujarat chief minister’s signature.
The glib ad has been issued by the BJP’s Mumbai unit chief Asish Shelar.
It shows Modi’s face with an image of the parliament in the background and the BJP’s symbol lotus flowering above.
The BJP’s bid to cash in on the remarks of Modi, chairman of the party’s campaign committee, comes after the interview raised a political storm last week.
In the interview, Modi had said: “I’m a nationalist. I’m patriotic. Nothing is wrong. I’m a born Hindu. So yes, you can say I’m a Hindu nationalist,” he said, and added “as far as progressive, development-oriented, workaholic … there’s no contradiction between the two. It is one and the same image”.
However, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told a newspaper that the hoardings carrying Modi’s comments were not part of any authorised election campaign.
INDIA TODAY
