Omar flays Aiyar, says mocking Modi won't help in Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has come under criticism from his own allies for mocking Bharatiya Janata Party Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Aiyar was not helping the Congress by taking such digs at Modi.

"Modi has a lot of negatives but his humble origins are a positive some of us can't claim. We aren't helping our campaign by mocking him," Omar tweeted.

The BJP also hit out at Aiyar for his tea stall remark on Modi. "Nothing better is expected of Mani Shankar Aiyar, he is hurting the sentiments of a common man, this language will hurt the Congress party in future," said BJP leader rajiv Pratap Rudy.

This came after Aiyar on Friday yet again raked up the tea stall owner prime minister issue taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He said Modi can never be the Prime Minister but only a tea stall owner.

"He can never be the Prime Minister of our nation, he can never be. However, if he wants, we could arrange a tea stall for him here," Aiyar said speaking on Modi.

This is not the first time that a political leader has taken a dig at Modi. Earlier in 2013, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal had also said a tea stall owner cannot be the Prime Minister of India.

"Narendra Modi wants to become a PM. Someone rising from a tea shop can never have a national perspective. Like, if you make a 'sipahi' (constable) as 'kaptan' (Superintendent of Police) he can never have SP's approach but will have that of a constable," Agarwal had said.

Agarwal had also said the prime minister of a country has to be an able person of national stature. "As far as crowd is concerned, a 'madari' (street performer) also gathers it," he said taking a swipe at BJP.

He had later issued a clarification saying that his words were twisted out of context. However, he said he won't apologise to BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi.