New Delhi: Congress leaders Abhishek Singhvi and Shashi Tharoor on Friday came out in support of party colleague Jairam Ramesh, saying demonising Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "wrong" and he should be praised for doing the right things.
While Singhvi said Modi's acts must be judged issue-wise, not person-wise, Tharoor said praising the prime minister for doing the right things would lend credibility to the opposition's criticism of him.
"Always said demonising Modi wrong. No only is he PM of nation, a one way opposition actually helps him," Singhvi tweeted while echoing Ramesh's views.
"Acts are always good, bad and indifferent-they must be judged issue-wise and not person-wise. Certainly, Ujjawala scheme is only one amongst other good deeds," he said.
Tharoor also joined him saying, "As you know, I have argued for six years now that Narendra Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time."
At a book launch on Wednesday, former Union minister Ramesh had said Modi's governance model was "not a complete negative story" and added that not recognising his work and demonising him all the time was not going to help.
“It is time we recognize Modi's work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power by over "30 per cent of the electorate", Ramesh had said.
He had also cited how successful the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUJ) had turned out for the prime minister.
Ramesh made the remarks while launching a book, "Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India" written by Kapil Satish Komireddi, a political analyst.
"He (Modi) talks in a language that connects him with the people. Unless we recognize that he is doing things which people recognise and which have not been done in the past, we are not going to be able to confront this guy," said the Congress leader.
Ramesh sought to clarify that he is not asking anyone to praise or applaud the prime minister, but only wants the political class to at least recognise the traits he has brought to the governance -- particularly the "economics of governance".
Former president Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee also agreed with Singhvi saying, "Very true sir. Nation building is an ongoing process carried on by successive governments. Hope Mr Modi and team also realise this."
"Instead of trying to diminish Pandit Nehru they should accept his and Congress's immense contribution and carry it forward. Criticisms should be on policies, not personalities," she said.
Countering Ramesh, former Union minister and Congress veteran K K Tewary said some "self propagating" leaders in the Congress had "hijacked" the party and were making all kinds of comments that were not in the interest of the party.
"Some self-propagating leaders in the party, who never fight elections and find a sanctuary in the Rajya Sabha, have hijacked the party," he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got 37.4 per cent of votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and won a whopping 303 seats of its own. The NDA, as a whole, secured nearly 45 per cent of the total votes polled.
