Congress slams PM Narendra Modi for ‘trying to usurp yoga’

The party released a photograph of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in “shirshasana” calling him a “practising yogi” in an attempt to project that it was not against yoga.

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PM Narendra Modi (Source: PTI photo)

On the eve of International Yoga Day, the Congress on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in “brazen and shameless attempts” to usurp yoga and turning it into a “coercive and divisive issue”.

The party released a photograph of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in “shirshasana” calling him a “practising yogi” in an attempt to project that it was not against yoga.

The Congress has been cautious not to offend religious sentiments while attacking Modi on the issue. “Practise yourself before you preach to others,” Congress told Modi, citing a quotation by Mahatma Gandhi. The party spoke about the usefulness of yoga and said it unequivocally supports its voluntary practice.

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Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said a public relation exercise is on to project the Prime Minister and his party as the ‘inventors of yoga’.

The intention of the government, he said, was to create unnecessary divisive debates and in the process divert the attention of the people from the “misdeeds, scandals and failures of this government.”

Calling the Prime Minister an “event and headline manager”, Surjewala alleged that it was indeed a pity that even as burning issues affect the nation, the Prime Minister is lost in “Lalit Asan”.

“The suited-booted PM believes in Raj Yog whereas the country urgently requires a Karm Yogi,” he said.

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