Ranchi: BJP`s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, now seeking iron scrap from the people for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue, will one day seek a wife from the common people, a Jharkhand minister said Monday, creating a political row.
"Earlier, the BJP were seeking bricks (to build the temple in Ayodhya). Now Modi is seeking iron (for the Patel statue). Later, he will seek gold, and a time will come when he will seek a wife from the people. Modi is a `bewa` (widower)," Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Mannan Mallick told reporters in Dhanbad.
State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rabindra Rai has demanded the immediate removal of the minister.
"The minister is mentally sick and Chief Minister Hemant Soren should remove him from the cabinet. How can a mentally sick person work as minister," Rai told a news agency.
The Jharkhand Congress has also disowned the statement made by the minister, a member of the party.
"We have come to know about the statement. We disown the minister`s statement and there is no place for such language in politics," Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Shailesh Sinha said.
On Sunday, Modi addressed a "Vijay Sankalp" rally in Ranchi and blamed the Congress for the miserable condition of the state.
The Jharkhand Congress Monday sought an apology from the Modi and the BJP for his comment.
"The BJP ruled for 10 of the 13 years of formation of the state. The misrule of BJP in the state is responsible for the misery of the state. Modi and BJP should apologise to the people," Jharkhand Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat said in a press conference Monday.
