Opposition hits out at Narendra Modi's 'sarab' jibe

In a wordplay attack against SP, RLD and BSP, the prime minister says the first letters of the three parties spell 'sarab'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a wordplay to attack the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, saying the first letters of the three parties spell 'sarab', prompting a furious reaction from the Opposition at the comparison with alcohol.

Terming the SP-RLD-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh 'mahamilavat', Modi compared the Opposition parties to 'sarab' - the Hindi word for liquor is 'sharab'. "The first letters of these three parties stand for 'sarab', which is bad for health," Modi said while launching BJP's rally from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. While the Congress asked Modi to apologise for comparing the parties to liquor, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav accused him of spreading the "intoxication of hatred", saying he didn't know the difference between 'sharab' and 'sarab' (mirage).

Alleging that Modi had lowered political discourse, Congress' Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "You should apologise to the country as you have insulted the poor by comparing opposition political parties to liquor." "Sarab means mirage, which is a blurred dream which the BJP is showing for the past five years but never fulfilled. It is once against showing sarab to people during elections," Akhilesh said in a tweet.

BJP to campaign on Sabarimala issue

The Kerala unit of the BJP on Thursday made it clear that one of its Lok Sabha election campaigns will be the Sabarimala issue. State BJP President P S Sreedharan Pillai said in a statement that if the Central government has the powers to bring out new laws to protect the sanctity of Sabarimala temple, then the BJP will do its best to see that it happens.

Shatrughan Sinha to join Congress

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who is all set to quit the BJP, met Rahul Gandhi and is likely to join the Congress on April 6. Cong's Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil and Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Madan Mohan Jha were among those present during the meet.

Man held for seeking contract to kill PM

A 31-year-old man was arrested under sedition charges for uploading a post seeking a contract to kill the PM. "We had received a complaint about the objectionable social media post on police control room, following which the accused was traced and arrested," said DCP East Rahul Jain.

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