In an interview given to ABP News as part of his Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was unknown to the world until the film on his life, ‘Gandhi’, was released in 1982, drawing criticism from the Congress party.
"Mahatma Gandhi was a big personality. It was our responsibility that the world must have known more about him in the last 75 years. But nobody knew him. It was only after the release of the film Gandhi that the world became curious about him," Modi stated.
The Congress party condemned the Prime Minister's comments. National spokesperson Shama Mohamed criticized Modi, asserting that he appears to have "lost his mind." She highlighted Gandhi's global influence long before the film's release, noting, "Albert Einstein spoke about Mahatma Gandhi when he died. Martin Luther King cited Gandhi ji as his inspiration. There are statues of Bapu in almost every country in the world."
Mohamed also criticized the journalists for not challenging Modi's claims, calling them "dumb."
As the nation gears up for the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Modi's remarks have become a focal point of political discourse.