'Thought Modi was a crude man but...': When Ghulam Nabi Azad's opinion about PM changed

New Delhi: Amid allegations by the Congress that his DNA had been “Modi-fied”, veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday explained why Prime Minister Narendra Modi became emotional in Parliament during a farewell speech when his Rajya Sabha tenure ended last year.

“I want you to read the contents of his speech. PM Modi was not talking about being sad at my leaving the House. He was talking about a brutal incident which happened when I was the chief minister in J&K,” said Azad.

#WATCH | “I thought PM Modi to be a crude man but he showed humanity,” says Ghulam Nabi Azad pic.twitter.com/LhVHopvdhe

— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2022

On May 25, 2006 in Srinagar, a tourist bus carrying people from Gujarat was attacked by a grenade, killing four tourists and injuring six.

Recounting the incident, Azad said, “Some tourists from Gujarat had died in a grenade attack in Kashmir when I was chief minister. Modi, who was the then chief minister of Gujarat, called me up but I was choked up, crying at the brutal killings. I could not speak with him. He heard me crying as my staff brought the phone close to me.”

He said Modi kept calling his office for updates and as he was seeing of the the two planes carrying the bodies and those injured, he started crying again.

“He probably saw me in tears on TV. He called but, again, I could not speak,” he said.

“I used to think Modi must be a crude man. I thought he won’t care… since he does not have kids… But he showed humanity,” said Azad.

Azad on Friday had ended his five-decade association with the Congress, terming it “comprehensively destroyed” and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for “demolishing” its entire consultative mechanism.

The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, had attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Azad’s DNA had been “Modi-fied” and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure.

With inputs from agencies

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