Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has been booked for defamation in Lucknow, UP over his alleged derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s father.
While pressing for Congress’ demand of an investigation by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) against the Adani Group, Khera on Friday addressed the PM as “Narendra Gautam Das Modi”.
“Why are you running away from a debate in parliament? Why are you scared of JPC? Even PV Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee set up JPC during their stints as prime ministers. What problem does Narendra ‘Gautam Das’, ‘Damodadardas’ have with JPC? It is Damodardas right? His name is Damodardas but deeds are of Gautam Das,” he said.
A video clip of his address went viral on social media platforms, enraging BJP workers who accused Khera of defaming his late father.
Based on a complaint of BJP leaders, an FIR has been registered at Hazratganj police station under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (punishment for defamation), 504 (insult), and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In response to Khera’s remarks, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said, “The Congress has repeatedly targeted PM Modi for his humble origins and now they haven’t even spared his dead father, who had nothing to do with politics… Congress’s deep-seated sense of entitlement and disdain for a self-made man doesn’t sit well with an aspirational India.”
Khera, however, later clarified that he genuinely got “confused whether it is Damodardas or Gautam Das”.
Opposition parties, led by the Congress party, has been demanding a JPC investigation into allegation levelled against the Adani Group in a damning report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.
In its lengthy report published in later January, the short seller said accused group chairman Gautam Adani of “pulling the largest con in corporate history” by stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
However, the government has rejected the Opposition’s demands.