Accusing the Congress of politicising the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at Punjab chief minster Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday for skipping the official event.

“The Vice President (Venkaiah Naidu) was in Jallianwala Bagh for the government event. He paid tribute to martyrs but Congress CM was not there”, he said, charging that nationalism was an insult for the opposition.

The Punjab chief minister, Modi said, insulted the Jallianwala Bagh memorial by not attending the government’s memorial on the day of the centenary.

“He (Amarinder) boycotted the event. Do you know why?Do you know why? Because he was busy in revering Congress family. He had gone at Jallianwalla Bagh with Congress naamdar. This is the difference between Rashtrabhakti and Parivaar bhakti,” Modi said.

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The prime minister then said that he had known Amarinder Singh for years and have never raised a question on his patriotism. “I can understand the kind of pressure which must have been put on him for such ‘parivar bhakti’,” he added.

Taking strong exception to PM Modi’s comments, Amarinder Singh accused him of playing “dirty politics”.

“Shocked at your remarks in Kathua on Jallianwala Bagh @narendramodi Ji. You used a somber occasion to play dirty politics, conveniently ignoring your own government’s decision to hold a parallel event instead of extending support to my govt, which we’d been requesting for 2 yrs,” Amarinder tweeted.

First Published: Apr 14, 2019 15:00 IST