Congress Party leader Pramod Tiwari caused a flutter today in the Rajya Sabha after he compared India’s prime minister Narendra Modi to Hitler, Mussolini and Gaddafi, saying that Modi has moved from the company of great leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru to that of well-known dictators with his demonetization drive.
“When history is written, and a question is asked — who all have done something like this (banning currency), Modi’s name will be mentioned alongside those of Hitler, Mussolini and Gaddafi,” Tiwari said, participating in the debate on the demonetization of 500- and 1000-rupee notes to control black money.
Tiwari’s statement was followed by protests by BJP members for comparing Modi with the infamous dictators.
However, Tiwari stuck to his guns, claiming that he was merely stating the a fact. “No mature democracy has done something like this,” he said, repeating his statement several times.
BJP members asked that the words Hitler, Mussoline and Gaddafi be struck off the record as ‘unparliamentary’.
However, the Chair refused to accept BJP members’ position, and said the member from Uttar Pradesh was merely stating a fact.
Responding to the statement, Urban Development minister Venkaiah Naidu asked Congress to come out of their ‘dilemma’ and state clearly whether they were in favor of what he called strict action against black money holders or not.