First batch of DNA samples for Modi collected in Bihar

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, August 11, 2015: Janata Dal (United) supporters in poll-bound Bihar on Tuesday began cutting a strand of their hair and bits of their nails to be shipped to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in protest against his remarks at a rally in Bihar last month where he questioned the DNA of ally-turned-rival Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

 

The samples are being collected in envelopes with a message for Modi as part of Nitish’s Shabd Wapsi campaign launched to counter the Prime Minister’s barb. "I am proud of being a Bihari. There is nothing wrong with my DNA. Doubters can get it checked," the message reads on the red and white envelopes with a biological diagram of the DNA.

The JD-U also held a protest march in Patna, attended by top party leaders. "The Prime Minister said Bihar is BIMARU and the people of Bihar are durbhagyashaali (wretched). This is an insult to Biharis," JD-U spokesperson and former bureaucrat Pawan Verma said.

Addressing a public meeting in Muzaffarpur district on July 25, Modi had said: "There seems to be some problem in his (Nitish Kumar) DNA because the DNA of democracy is not like that. In democracy, you give respect even to your political rivals."

On Monday, a day after Modi failed to comply with Nitish’s request to take back his DNA remark, the Janata Dal-United leader announced he would launch a Shabd Wapsi drive, which included demonstrations across Bihar, collecting signatures of 50 lakh people and sending their DNA samples to Modi for a test. JD-U spokesperson Ajay Alok said the party will also hold a Swabhiman Rally on Aug 29 in Patna.

Modi, who addressed another rally in Gaya on Sunday, did not respond to Nitish Kumar’s request to consider taking back comments on his DNA. "Neither he mentioned it nor he countered it. He simply ignored it," a senior BJP leader said.

 

Courtesy: Indiatoday