Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday referred to Amrita Fadnavis’ ‘Father of the Nation’ remark to take a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked what the ‘new father’ of ‘New India’ has done for the nation. ?”

On December 21 Amrita Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, called Prime Minister Modi the ‘Father of the Nation’ of ‘New India’.

Taking a potshot at the comment, Kumar said, “They had nothing to do with the freedom struggle. RSS did not contribute to the freedom struggle…We read the ‘new father of the nation’ comment. .. what the ‘new father’ of ‘new India’ has done for the nation. ?”

# watch | They had nothing to do with the freedom struggle. RSS had no contribution in freedom struggle…We read about ‘New Father of Nation’ comments… What has ‘New Father’ of ‘New India’ done for the nation?: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
(31.12) pic.twitter.com/5RdJmrasIP

— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2023

Earlier on December 21, Amrita Fadnavis had said, “India has two Fathers of the Nation. One for old India and one for new India. I believe that Mahatma Gandhi is the ‘Father of the Nation’ of India. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the ‘Father of the Nation’ of New India.”

Reacting to the comments, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that Mahatma Gandhi cannot be compared to anyone and took a dig at BJP’s “New India”.

“The father of the nation cannot be compared to anyone. Their (BJP) ‘new India’ is only to make a few friends super rich, while the rest of the population remains poor and hungry. We don’t need this ‘new’ India,” Patole said.

“If they want to make Modiji the ‘father of the nation’ of new India for some rich businessmen, let them do it. I congratulate them,” Patole said.

Senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari also hit out at the state Deputy Chief Minister’s wife’s comments.

“BJP can have two fathers but not in the country. Only one will be the father of the nation…” Tiwari said.

(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and appeared on a syndicated feed.)