Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday wrote letter to President Ram Nath Kovind asking him to caution Narendra Modi from using unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language. (File) Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday wrote letter to President Ram Nath Kovind asking him to caution Narendra Modi from using unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language. (File)

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind asking him to caution Narendra Modi from using ‘unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language’ against leaders of the Congress or any other party as it does not behove the position of the prime minister.

Referring to PM Modi’s speech in Hubli during campaigning for the Karnataka elections, where he warned Congress leaders against crossing the boundary or face a backlash, the letter said that such menancing and intimidating words might provoke breach of peace.

“Congress leaders listen with your ears wide open. If you cross the boundary, then this is Modi, you will face a backlash (Congress ke neta kan kholkar sun lijiye, agar simayon ko par karenge, ye Modi hain, lene ke dene par jayenge),” the letter quoted PM Modi as saying during a rally in Hubli on May 6. The link to the video was also mentioned in the letter.

The letter was signed by noted Congress leaders P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, Mallikarjun Kharge, Motilal Vohra, Kamal Nath, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Mukul Wasnik and Karan Singh.

Condemning the “threat” to the Congress leadership, the letter said such discourse by a PM was unacceptable and the party won’t be cowed down by such intimidating remarks. “The Congress party is the oldest party in India and has faced many challenges and threats. The party has always exhibited courage and fearlessness in facing threats and challenges,” Manmohan Singh said.

The letter also mentioned that the use of “menancing” language by Modi during election campaigns amounted to using powers and privileges as the PM to settle personal and political scores. The Congress letter comes a day before the results of the Karnataka elections, which has seen an acrimonious war of words between the two parties.

On May 7, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sent a legal notice to PM Modi and BJP President Amit Shah over their continuous barbs levelling corruption allegations against him. In the notice, the CM asked the two leaders to tender an unconditional apology or face a defamation suit worth Rs 100 crore.

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