Modi slams Cong over North-South false binary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress of trying to drive a wedge between the northern and southern states and said the opposition party's government in Karnataka was trying to create a narrative that will jeopardise the country's future.

Replying to the debate to the motion of thanks in the Rajya Sabha, Modi lamented that the Karnataka government was building such a narrative through advertisements. His comments came even as the Karnataka government led by chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar took to New Delhi's streets to protest alleged "financial discrimination" against the state.

"Today I want to share my pain on a specific matter... The way language is being spoken these days to break the country, these new narratives are being made for political gains. An entire state is speaking this language, nothing can be worse for the country than this... what language have we started saying," Modi asked in the Upper House.

Modi said such narratives were not good for the country and could jeopardise its future.

He asked the House what would happen if a vaccine is made in one part of the country and someone says that it can't be given to other parts. "What is this thinking? And it is very painful that such language is emerging from a national party, it is very sad," he said.