Maharashtra BJP chief draws flak for claiming PM Modi made Kalam prez

A day after Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said PM Narendra Modi made Dr APJ Abdul Kalam the president of the country, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Modi was not in national level politics then while the Congress criticised Patil saying next that he would give credit to Modi for how the universe came into being.

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Chandrakant Patil drew criticism from the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra after he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Dr APJ Abdul Kalam the president of India.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil. (HT FILE)

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said Modi was not in national level politics then while the Congress criticised Patil saying next that he would give credit to Modi for how the universe came into being. Raut criticised Patil and the BJP saying they wanted credit for everything that has happened in the country.

Patil made the controversial claim while speaking to BJP’s Yuva Morcha held in Pune on Friday. He said that Modi never discriminated against Muslims and claimed that Modi made Kalam the president in 2002. Patil had said, “Narendra Modi has given a place to all Muslims. He had also made Abdul Kalam the president. He was not made the president because he was a Muslim, but because he was an accomplished scientist.”

Dr Kalam was elected as the President of India in 2002 during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, while Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat.

Raut dismissed the claim and said it was a masterstroke by late Vajpayee. “This was a masterstroke by Atal Bihari Vajpayee; and Pramod Mahajan too was involved in it. All parties had supported the candidature of Dr Kalam. I only know that Modi was not in the national political scene then. My knowledge or information might be inadequate, but was he [Kalam] Vajpayee’s choice, which was backed by everybody. It is laughable that some people are taking credit for everything that has happened in the country,” Raut said.

State Congress secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, “Today, neither APJ Abdul Kalam nor Vajpayee are alive. Tomorrow Chandrakant Patil may even say that the universe came into being because of Modi.”