NEW DELHI: Alleging that serving diplomats under the Modi govt are behaving like BJP “apparatchiks” and making political attacks on opposition parties, Congress on Tuesday demanded the sacking of Indian ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra for his “shameful and disgraceful” remarks.
Mishra had triggered a controversy when he, in a rejoinder to an Irish Times editorial critical of Narendra Modi, said the Indian PM is popular and blamed the ills facing the country on past govts run by parties now in opposition, and also dubbed Congress a dynastic party.
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, “This is unprofessional and disgraceful behaviour on his part, but is par for the Modi course, I guess.” He added: “Defending govt of India is one thing and is to be expected. But to attack opposition parties openly in this manner like a party apparatchik is not expected from an ambassador, even if his is a political appointment.”
Ramesh later corrected his remark to say that the ambassador is a career diplomat “which makes his comments even more shameful, disgraceful and completely unacceptable”. The Congress functionary added: “He (Mishra) has actually breached service rules and should be sacked right away.”
Meanwhile, two young professionals from Bihar joined Congress on Tuesday and extended their support to the party in Lok Sabha elections. While Prem Kumar Choudhary is a leader of Vikassheel Swaraj Party, Manish Yadav is an ophthalmologist. They joined Congress in the presence of the party’s Bihar in-charge Mohan Prakash and state Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
Mishra had triggered a controversy when he, in a rejoinder to an Irish Times editorial critical of Narendra Modi, said the Indian PM is popular and blamed the ills facing the country on past govts run by parties now in opposition, and also dubbed Congress a dynastic party.
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, “This is unprofessional and disgraceful behaviour on his part, but is par for the Modi course, I guess.” He added: “Defending govt of India is one thing and is to be expected. But to attack opposition parties openly in this manner like a party apparatchik is not expected from an ambassador, even if his is a political appointment.”
Ramesh later corrected his remark to say that the ambassador is a career diplomat “which makes his comments even more shameful, disgraceful and completely unacceptable”. The Congress functionary added: “He (Mishra) has actually breached service rules and should be sacked right away.”
Meanwhile, two young professionals from Bihar joined Congress on Tuesday and extended their support to the party in Lok Sabha elections. While Prem Kumar Choudhary is a leader of Vikassheel Swaraj Party, Manish Yadav is an ophthalmologist. They joined Congress in the presence of the party’s Bihar in-charge Mohan Prakash and state Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh.