NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Recently, senior Congress leaders responded to Modi's controversial reference to Gandhi in his interview with ABP News.

Manmohan Singh accused Modi of being the first Prime Minister to destroy the dignity of public debate, stating that no Prime Minister has made such hateful and anti-parliamentary remarks. In the election campaign, he preached extreme hate speech full of sectarianism. Manmohan Singh's criticism was articulated in a letter written to the voters of Punjab.

Mallikarjun Kharge asked Modi to read Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography after the election results. He found it interesting that Modi said the world came to know about Mahatma Gandhi after watching Richard Attenborough's film. Kharge called this the ignorance of a Prime Minister, questioning whether Modi had not learned about Gandhiji. "In our time, it was in school books. If he had read it, he would not have said such a thing," Kharge remarked.

"The whole world knows Mahatma Gandhi. His statue is in front of the United Nations Office. Many leaders are admirers of Mahatma Gandhi. At least 70-80 countries have his statues. All the countries that gained independence through non-violence know about Mahatma Gandhi," said Kharge.

Modi's reference to Gandhi was made in an interview given to the news channel ABP. Modi said that the world came to know Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India, through the movie Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough in 1982. He added that during these 75 years, it is our responsibility to inform the world about Mahatma Gandhi. According to Modi, the world came to know Gandhi after the release of the movie, despite everyone knowing about other leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Modi also alleged that the Congress did not promote Gandhi.

After Modi's video went viral, the Congress issued severe criticism. Many leaders reacted against Modi. Jairam Ramesh stated that Modi's words are destroying the Gandhian heritage and accused the Modi government of destroying Gandhian institutions. He added that RSS members are unable to understand Mahatma Gandhi's nationalism.