Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday took a dig at Rahul's late father saying, "Your father was termed 'Mr Clean' by his courtiers, but his life ended as 'Bhrastachari number 1' (corrupt number 1)".
According to Outlook, Modi was addressing a BJP rally in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, where he accused the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi of attempting to tarnish his image over the Rafale issue.
"These people had created a hype of Hindu terrorism. Today, the terrorists and their masters are praying that Modi should not come to power…”, said Modi.
Modi’s 'Your Father's Life Ended As Bhrastachari No 1' was seen as cruel and insensitive, and followed a swift and unforgiving reactions;
“Modi - Rahul Gandhi's Father's Life Ended by a Hindu Terrorist!”, tweeted Ashok Swain @ashoswai.
“There HAS never been and WILL NEVER BE a more NEECH PM than @narendramodi”, tweeted My Fellow Indians @MyFellowIndians.
“Hey @narendramodi, you are a disgrace to mankind. This country deserves a decent PM. Please walk away into the sunset on May 23rd. India will forget your sins & move on into a fresh new path”, tweeted Sasidharan Pazhoor @inquestioner.
Rahul Gandhi’s father Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was a pilot turned politician after his mother Indira Gandhi was killed by one of her bodyguards. Rajiv Gandhi was appointed Indian Prime Minister on 31 Oct 1984 after his mother’s death and remained a PM until 1989 elections.
In 1991, during an election campaign, he was assassinated by a Hindu suicide bomber from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
According to Wikipedia, Gandhi's first action as Prime Minister was passing the anti-defection law in January 1985. According to this law, an elected Member of Parliament or legislative assembly could not join an opposition party until the next election. Historian Manish Telikicherla Chary calls it a measure of curbing corruption and bribery of ministers by switching parties so they could gain majority.
According to Rejaul Karim Laskar, a scholar of Indian foreign policy and an ideologue of Congress party, Rajiv Gandhi's vision for a new world order was premised on India's place in its front rank. According to Laskar, the "whole gamut" of Rajiv Gandhi's foreign policy was "geared towards" making India "strong, independent, self-reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world."
Rajiv Gandhi is widely recognised as the visionary and founder of Indian IT industry. He employed former Rockwell International executive Sam Pitroda as his adviser on public information infrastructure and innovation. During Gandhi's time in office, public sector telecom companies MTNL and VSNL was developed. According to Pitroda, Gandhi's ability to resist pressure from multi-national companies to abandon his plan to spread telecommunication services has been an important factor in India's development.
