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PM Narendra Modi said as a devotee of Shiva, he can swallow all insults against him but cannot tolerate it when someone else is on the receiving end
PM Narendra Modi addresses a gathering during laying of foundation stone and inauguration of developmental works, in Assam’s Darrang on September 14. (Image: @NarendraModi/PTI)
Paying a tribute to legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika during his birth centenary celebrations in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he is pained by the alleged insult of the Bharat Ratna recipient by the Congress.
Modi said as a devotee of Shiva, he can swallow all insults against him but cannot tolerate it when someone else is on the receiving end. In 2019, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had reportedly slammed the Naredra Modi-led government at the Centre for conferring the Bharat Ratna to a ‘singer’ instead of spiritual leader Shivakumara Swami.
“No matter how much abuse they hurl at me, I am a devotee of Lord Shiva; I absorb all that. But when someone else is insulted, I cannot tolerate it,” Modi said while addressing a gathering in Darrang. “The Government of India awarded the Bharat Ratna to Bhupendra da ji, the pride of Assam and a true son of the nation. The Congress president said Modi is giving the Bharat Ratna to people known for dancing and singing.”
Modi said music and art lovers in India should ask the Congress why they insulted Hazarika. He said it is one of the “double-engine” BJP government’s foremost priorities to respect and preserve the cultural heritage of Assam, along with its rapid development.
He hit back at the Congress for its controversial remarks against him and his mother leading up to the Bihar assembly elections later this year.
“I know their (Congress) entire ecosystem will say that Modi has started ‘crying’ again, but if I do not share my emotions with my God, the people here, with whom will I? These people are my remote control, I have no other remote control…”
The Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to Assam. Earlier on Saturday (September 13), he held a roadshow in Guwahati.
Attacking Jawaharlal Nehru, he said what India’s first PM told the northeastern people after the 1962 war with China has not been fulfilled.
“When we celebrate 100 years of independence, we must have transformed India into a ‘Viksit Bharat’,” he said.
Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing impactful st…Read More
Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing impactful st… Read More
Darrang, India, India
September 14, 2025, 13:46 IST
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