New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday demanded that Congress President Sonia Gandhi take strict action against senior party leader Subodh Kant Sahay for his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sahay, a former Union minister, on Monday kicked up a row when he said Modi is behaving like Adolf Hitler and "will die like Hitler" if he follows the path of the German dictator.

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The Congress, however, distanced itself from Sahay's statement made at the party's 'Satyagraha' protest at Jantar Mantar here against the Centre's Agnipath scheme, saying it does not endorse any indecent remarks against the prime minister.

“I wish to ask the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) and senior Congress leaders what action is being taken against this leader. They should apologise to the nation, they should apologise to the prime minister,” Thakur told reporters here.

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He said the Congress is rattled by the growing popularity of Modi and the work he has done for the welfare of the poor.

“With what mentality Congress leaders make such statements. They have made such statements repeatedly,” Thakur said.

“The Congress leader should apologise to the nation for the choice of words used while referring to the popular leader of the country,” he said.

Thakur said voters will punish the Congress as they did in Gujarat and elsewhere in the country if the opposition leaders continued to make such remarks against the prime minister.

The Union minister also tweeted, "The remarks made by the Congress leader on respected Prime Minister Modi ji shows his petty thinking, the fury and irritability arising out of the state-to-state slipping base (of the party)."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)