‘He Deserves Respect But…’: Cong Leader Sam Pitroda’s Rare Show of Appreciation for PM Modi

In a rare instance, senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda, who is often critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s policies, said that the prime minister deserves respect everywhere as he is the leader of the most populous country, and he is “proud” of it.

“A prime minister of a nation of 1.5 billion people deserves respect everywhere. And I’m proud of it. I’m not negative about it,” Pitroda said in an interview with PTI.

Praising India’s foreign policy under Narendra Modi-government, Pitroda, who is currently in the US with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his three-city six-day tour, said that Rahul Gandhi is well aware of where India is going right.

“He (Gandhi) knows where we (India) are doing something right, we are all for it. And you see, someone told me that, the Indian Prime Minister is getting a lot of reception. And I said I’m happy about it because, at the end of the day, he’s also my prime minister. But let’s not make a mistake. He’s getting reception because he’s India’s prime minister. And not because he’s BJP’s prime minister. Separate these two things,” Pitroda added.

Pitodra also said that the BJP is trying to spread a web of fake news about Rahul Gandhi’s US tour wherein they claimed that his trip was sponsored by Muslims. The Congress leader said that the party twist all the messages.

“But you see, they twist every message. They confuse everything. And then they convert into personal attacks. Now, that’s not democracy. Have some respect for other human beings. You will send 50 people chasing you on social media with lies,” he told PTI.

“And the one lie was that this entire trip (of Rahul Gandhi) was sponsored by Muslims. What is it? Even if it is sponsored, let’s say the worst case. I mean, they’re citizens of India. What are you talking about? First of all, they have nothing to do with it. The entire trip has been arranged by the Indian Overseas Congress. I have personally supervised every event,” he added.

Pitodra’s comments came before PM Narendra Modi is all set to visit the United States on June 22.

The prime minister will be hosted by US President Joe Biden in the White House which will include a state dinner.

Earlier, President Biden lauded PM Modi for his popularity and said various influential people in the US are excited to meet him during his Washington trip.

(With PTI inputs)