Janjivan Bureau
Jammu: Paying the homage to late Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Girdhari Lal Dogra Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law. He said “There are some sons-in-law who do not bask in their in-laws’ glory. We all know how political damads can be”, he said drawing applause from the audience.
The PM hailed Dogra’s ability to judge people and said one example is the son-in-law he selected, leaving the audience in a jubilant mood.
There was no similarity in the political ideology of Dogra and Jaitley, but still the former gave his daughter to the latter, said Modi in a lighter mood.
Speaking at the centenary celebrations of the father-in-law of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the PM said there should be no untouchability in politics.
Paying homage to the late Congress leader, Modi said that when he inaugurated a photo exhibition on Dogra, what touched him was the fact that there was not even a single person from his family in all of the former J&K minister’s pictures.
Modi, who attended the main function inside the Zorawar Singh auditorium of Jammu University around which a thick blanket of security has been thrown, said that there are only a few politicians who stay alive even after their deaths.
Arun Jaitley, who delivered the welcome address, called Dogra a man of high integrity.
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress veteran Karan Singh also addressed the function, which began by a santoor recital by Shivkumar Sharma, an internationally renowned maestro who hails from Jammu.
All eyes are on this visit as the Prime Minister is expected to announce a Rs 70,000 crore development package for Jammu and Kashmir.
The special plane carrying the Prime Minister landed at the technical area of Jammu airport around 11 am.
