Modi is no Goebbels, says BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday strongly objected to the Congress comparing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, terming it 'malicious' and 'deeply condemnable'.

'Not even a single criticism of Shri Narendra Modi against the governance of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) is factually incorrect,' said BJP general secretary and spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad.

'Calling it factually incorrect and comparing it Goebbels who was known for false propaganda, exposes the true color of the Congress. This kind of language was spoken about only during 1975-76 when India was under emergency and democratic rights had been suspended. This is the India of 2012 and such a language of Congress will not be acceptable,' he said.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had Saturday said the it seemed that 'soul' of Goebbels 'has gone inside' Modi. His reactions came after Modi, in the party rally in Mumbai launched a sarcastic attack on the UPA government. Modi had Friday compared the Congress-led UPA government with tainted godman Nirmal Baba.

Goebbels was the propaganda minister in Hitler's Nazi regime.


SO WHO WAS GOEBBELS?

• Dr Paul Joseph Goebbels was the Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.
• Goebbels rose to power in 1933 along with Hitler and the Nazi Party and he was appointed Propaganda Minister.
• One of his first acts was the burning of books, by which all books that did not correspond to the Nazi ideology was burnt.
• He was responsible for Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass. At least 91 Jews were killed in the attacks, and a further 30,000 arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.
• Goebbels remained with Hitler in Berlin to the end. After Hitler's suicide, Goebbels succeeded him as Chancellor.