BJP asks Congress CMs not to breach Constitutional propriety

New Delhi, Aug 21: BJP on Thursday reminded Congress Chief Ministers not to breach Constitutional propriety as it termed the decision of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and other CMs to skip the functions of the Prime Minister as "unfortunate".

The ruling party also told Congress Chief Ministers not to fall prey to the "complex arising due to the popularity" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the masses and said the Congress may decide to ignore Modi's dais but they cannot ignore his mantra of good governance and development.

The BJP said the Prime Minister cannot stop people from speaking out their minds publicly and noted that this type of negative politics will not help the Congress. "There seems a complex in the minds of poll-bound Congress Chief Ministers. They should take care that they should not breach Constitutional propriety," BJP Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

"They should not fall prey such complex arising out of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the masses," he said. BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "This type of negative politics will not help the Congress anyways."

"Congress can ignore Modi's dais but they cannot ignore his mantra of good governance and development. The Congress even after its humiliating defeat at the hustings is not ready to see the ground reality. Instead of cleaning their face with the dust that has stuck to them in these polls, the Congressmen are cleaning the mirror instead," he said.

The two leaders said the Prime Minister has accorded due respect to all Chief Ministers - be it those of BJP or Congress or any other party - and has been adhering to all courtesies to them as he believes in 'Team India'. Hussain said Modi was popular among the people of the country as they feel that for the first time there is such a Prime Minister who can change the face and fortune of India.

"The Prime Minister cannot stop people from talking. No one can stop the public from speaking out their minds," he said. The comments came after Chavan took an aggressive stand of not attending the Prime Minister's programme following incidents of heckling of Chief Ministers at functions attended by Modi in Congress-ruled states.

Modi is scheduled to perform bhoomi-pujan of a Metro project in Nagpur today which Chavan has decided to skip after he was forced to stop speaking midway as alleged BJP supporters started chanting Modi's name.

"What happened at Solapur was unfortunate," Chavan had said yesterday adding that, "We have taken a decision to skip the function in Nagpur tomorrow."

Earlier in Kaithal, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was booed by a crowd at a public event in the Prime Minister's presence, after which he said he would never share the stage with him again. Senior BJP leader in Maharashtra Vinod Tawde said Congress should introspect why people are unhappy with the state leadership.

"When the Chief Minister (Chavan) went to Vidarbha, he was booed by farmers. They were not BJP workers. The Congress needs to introspect why is the common man unhappy with the state leadership," Tawde said. "It is surprising and unfortunate that the CM is boycotting the PM's programme," said the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council.

PTI