NEW DELHI: Adding to the embarrassment of the Congress party another Congress leader has made a controversial statement about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lineage. In a video that was shared by the BJP on Twitter, former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar can be heard making personal attacks on Modi and his father. "Who knew you (Modi) before you became the PM. Even now, nobody knows the name of your father, but everybody knows the name of (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi's father," Muttemwar is heard saying in the viral video.


Vilas Muttemwar made the comments at a party meeting in Rajasthan on Saturday. The video of his speech has gone viral on social media.

Responding to the statement, Modi, at an election rally in Madhya Pradesh, said the Congress was indulging in abuse as it is left with no issue. "We never make any personal attacks on anyone's family. We criticized the post they held. But why are Congress leaders making personal attacks on my mother and father. After my mother, they (Congress) have dragged the name of my father, who left this world 30 years ago, in politics," he said.


BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, while sharing the video on his Twitter account, said such statements from Congress leaders reflect dynastic mindset" of the party.


Meanwhile, Muttemwar, who hails from Vidarbha region, told PTI that the video in circulation was distorted.

"It was an internal party meeting yesterday. The person who shot the video distorted it and posted it online," he said.

The Congress leader said it was a fact that people of the country knew who Rahul Gandhi's father was but not many knew about Modi's father. "The world knows past generations of Rahul Gandhi but no one knows who Modi's father was," he said.

Days ago, Babbar had likened the falling rupee to the age of Modi's mother, after Joshi's casteist remark on the PM and Union minister Uma Bharti.

"Before becoming PM, Narendra Modi used to say that the value of the rupee has fallen to a level where it is almost the same as the age of the then-PM (Manmohan Singh). Now, it is inching towards the age of Modi's respected mother," Babbar had said.

The PMs mother, Heeraben Modi, is 98 years old.

Addressing a poll meeting in Rajasthan on Thursday, another Congress leader CP Joshi had reportedly said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP MP Uma Bharti and Hindu activist Sadhvi Ritambhara are from "lower castes" and know nothing of Hinduism. He said it is the Brahmins who are learned and know of Hinduism.