Congress squirms at Lata Mangeshkar's wish for Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Congress on Saturday expressed its discomfiture with iconic singer Lata Mangeshkar's praise for BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate saying the entire country feels pain when something like this comes out from her mouth for an ‘insensitive’ person like Narendra Modi.

"The entire country respects Lata Mangeshkar. Congress party has always respected her. There is pain and sensitivity in the voice of Lataji...when something like this comes out from her mouth for an insensitive person like Narendra Modi, the entire country feels the pain," party spokespersoon Bhakta Charan Das told reporters here.

Another Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said personalities popular in art and cultural fields may attract crowds but are not motivators for votes.

"Lataji's remarks should be taken in this way..She had been a Rajya Sabha member. She hardly came to Parliament. She had no interest in politics and was never involved in it. She had wished from God something for somebody and so no can have objection if someone is wishing for somebody. Her wish should not be taken as a view. Some people are trying to take political advantage of this, which is totally wrong," Afzal said.

He added, "Such people may be popular in art and cultural field. People don't look up to them for guidance on voting. They can attract crowds but not motivators for votes."

Another Congress functionary Praveen Davar said Lata has done the ‘greatest disservice’ to the nation by making her choice for Prime Minister public.

"Not expected of a Bharat Ratna to do so. She stands to lose the respect of millions of her apolitical fans," he claimed. Davar urged Mangeshkar to withdraw her statement in the ‘interest of music lovers and the country's future which is safe only with a secular leader at the helm’.

Party general Digvijaya Singh, however, refrained from making any comment on iconic singer Lata Mangeshkar praising Modi in Pune on Friday.

"Lata Mangeshkar is our Indian Icon and she is entitled to her political views. We all love her songs," Singh said in his tweet.

Maharashtra Congress said that the legendary singer would reconsider her endorsement of Narendra Modi for the Prime Minister's post after knowing the reality.

Stating that every person is entitled to express his or her views in a democracy, MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant said in a statement that ‘after understanding the reality of Modi's so-called development record and his fraudulent secularism, she would certainly rethink whether a man who is perpetually telling lies should become the Prime Minister’.

"Modi and company, through their professional and deluding propaganda machinery, have misled her," Sawant added. "We will soon send her information on his bogus development, his economic policies which deprive the poor of benefits of developmental schemes, and insensitivity towards issues of national interest," Sawant said.

It would help Mangeshkar change her view, he said. Sawant also said that Congress did not believe that the singer, who sung the iconic ‘Ai Mere Watan Ke Logo' and whose voice had come to symbolise the national harmony, supported RSS's and Modi's ideology as it was against the national unity.

After Modi inaugurated a new hospital complex named after her late father Deenanath Mangeshkar at a function in Pune on Friday, Lata had, in a brief address, said, "Narendrabhai is like my brother. All of us want to see him become the Prime Minister.