Cong’s Azad hails PM Modi for ‘not forgetting roots’
JAMMU: Former Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not forgetting his roots despite becoming the country’s PM.
Azad said PM Modi speaks frankly about his past as a teaseller and does not try to hide his background from the world.
Addressing a function by Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust in Jammu, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said people should learn from the PM about how one remains grounded to their roots. Azad’s comments come day after Congress leaders who recently wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi held a well-attended public rally from the podium of Gandhi Global Family.
On February 9, the PM gave an emotional farewell speech to Azad when the latter retired from the Rajya Sabha. “I (will) not let you retire, I will continue taking your advice. My doors are always open for you,” Modi said.
An emotional Prime Minister had recalled how Azad had reached out to him in 2006 after tourists from Gujarat were killed in a terrorist attack and had said the person who will replace the Congress leader will find it tough to match his contribution.
Addressing the function on Sunday, Azad said: “I have seen that when some among the Gujjar community become MLAS, they feel that they shouldn’t be called Gujjars and some feel shy that they come from villages”.
“I like many things of many big leaders… like I am from a village and I feel proud of it. Our PM also says that he is from village and was nothing (non-entity) and that he washed utensils and sold tea. Politically we may have serious differences and are opposed to him but he didn’t hide his true self. And those who hide their true self, they live in a bubble… in an imaginary world. People should be proud of their roots,” he added.
Azad said: “I have travelled across the world, stayed in five star and seven star hotels but when I sit with my people in village, I get a real sense of satisfaction... their clothes may not be clean but the soil of village has a different fragrance. You don’t need cosmetic scents because we are born and have grown up there.”