Apart from giving a video of the Prime Minister’s Hubli campaign, the party also mentioned the ‘objectionable’ part of speech in their letter.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior Congress leaders have wrtten to President Ram Nath Kovind, asking him “to caution Prime Minister Narendra Modi from using threatening and intimidating language’’ against them.

"Honorable President may caution the Prime Minister from using such unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language against leaders of the Congress party or any other party or person as it does not behove the position of the Prime Minister,"read the Congress petition, dated May 13, signed by Mr. Singh and other senior colleagues.

Referring to Mr. Modi’s election rally at Hubbali in Karnataka on May 6, where he reportedly asked the Congress leadership to stay within limits, the petition read,“ It is unthinkable that in our democratic polity, the Prime Minister as the head of the government would utter words which are threatening, intimidating in content and a public warning to the leaders and members of the main Opposition party, the Indian National Congress.”

Submits video of Modi's Hubbali campaign

Apart from giving a video of the Prime Minister’s Hubbali campaign, the party also mentioned the ‘objectionable’ part of speech in the petition. “Congress ke neta kaan kholkar sun lijiye, agar seemaon ko paar karoge, to yeh Modi hai, lene ke dene pad jayenge [Let the Congress leaders hear it clearly. If you don’t stay within your limits, then this is Modi and you will have to pay a price],” the letter quoted Mr. Modi as having said at the rally.

Though it is not uncommon for political parties to exchange barbs during election campains, the Congress said using such “menacing language even in the course of an election campaign tantamounts to using his powers and privileges as the Prime Minister to settle personal and political scores.”

The letter said:

“The threat held out by the Prime Minister to the INC's leadership deserves to be condemned. This cannot be the language of a prime minister of a constitutionally governed democratic country of 1.3 billion people.”

"Such discourse whether in public or private is unacceptable conduct. The words used are menacing and intimidating with intent to insult and provoke breach of the peace,”said the Congress letter, adding that all the Prime Minister in the past have maintained “decorum and dignity of the Prime Minister’s Office.”

Besides Mr. Singh, other leaders who signed the letter include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, P. Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath, Anand Sharma, Motilal Vora and Digvijaya Singh, among others.