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PM remarks on Swamy an advisory, not action: Congress

On the issue of polarising statements, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the PM asked the media to “keep its eyes and ears shut like him” and let those making such statements “do what they want”.

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A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi disapproved of BJP MP Subramanian Swamy’s outbursts against RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and senior finance ministry officials and asked the media to ignore hotheads making provocative comments, the Congress Tuesday criticised him saying the country expected a stronger reaction from him.

On the issue of polarising statements, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the PM asked the media to “keep its eyes and ears shut like him” and let those making such statements “do what they want”.

“What the Prime Minister has said is like ‘ulta chor kotwal ko daante’… you (the media) have been told that don’t print the news. You close your eyes like him and let them do what they want… Don’t write anything, don’t publish anything and don’t show anything…let whatever is happening continue,” he said.

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“We expected some action against them..he has said that he has not seen those making statements on television. He knows every nook and corner of India, he knows China, America, Pakistan, Russia… But you don’t know Sakshi Maharaj, Yogi Adityanath… Mahesh Sharma… We sympathise with you. You should stay in the country for one or two months so that you get to know them and see their faces,” added the senior leader.

The Congress also questioned Modi’s foreign policy and said that despite PM’s overactive engagements with Pakistan, terror attacks had increased.

“He keeps meeting the Pakistan Prime Minister… invited him to swearing-in, met him in Ufa and even went to Lahore… And in return, what have we got? Infiltration has increased in Kashmir and so have ceasefire violations and terror attacks… China blocked India’s bid to designate Masood Azhar as an international terrorist…blocked NSG entry.

What kind of foreign policy is this. The more you meet them, the more they turn against you. It is a very successful policy,” he said.

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Without naming Swamy, Azad dismissed PM’s remarks about him as an “advisory”. “It is like telling kids to stay away when they go near fire. It was non-serious. You people have written that the PM has scolded (him). It is nowhere near that. Action means dismissal, suspension, expulsion, dropping…. because laaton ke boot baaton se nahin mante,” said Azad.

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