Vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said he won`t go on the backfoot over his use of the `yugpurush` compliment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he “very consciously” used it.

Speaking at an event in Mumbai last month, Dhankhar had described Mahatma Gandhi as the `mahapurush` of the last century, and termed PM Modi the `yugpurush` (personality of an era) of this century, drawing criticism from a few quarters.

Addressing the students and faculty of Hidayatullah National Law University in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on Sunday, he defended his use of the accolade.

“I am not on backfoot. Very consciously I called our prime minister at a function in Mumbai, a `yugpurush`. You young boys and girls, analyse, go to a public domain and find out the attributes, whom we can label as a yugpurush. After all, there will have to be a yugpurush at a particular point in time there cannot be a better place than Bharat. A man who has changed and revolutionalised lives of our girls imagine banking inclusion explosion no one ever thought of it,” he said.

Dhankhar also lauded Modi for “taking care of dignity of women”, getting water in every household and taking care of ¿tears¿ by providing cooking gas connections.

Reacting to Dhankhar`s remarks on Mahatma Gandhi and Modi, BSP MP Danish Ali had earlier asked which new era had begun by giving liberty to an MP of the PM`s party to abuse a certain community, in a reference to racial slurs against him inside Parliament.

Without taking any names, the Vice President appealed to the students to neutralise the “forces that make mischievous efforts to set afloat narratives that are anti-nationals”.

“You, as brilliant young minds ¿ it is your duty, pious obligation, to do it. Some people have a poor appetite for the growth trajectory of our nation. Whenever something good happens in our country, either in the country or outside, they make mischievous efforts to set afloat narratives that are anti-nationals,” he said.

Nothing can be more dangerous in society than “an informed mind, an intelligent mind” trying to exploit people`s ignorance to generate political equity, he added.

“Take pride in our global achievements, phenomenal rise and respect we have earned worldwide. There was a time when the world used to render advice to us. Now, Bharat is a settler of agendas for the entire world. That ecosystem was not there earlier. All this happened because we have visionary leadership,” he said.

Dhankhar said the women`s reservation bill, which was passed in both houses of Parliament, will be fructified post delimitation of Lok Sabha seats.

“We have distinguished minds asking why it is not being implemented in 2024. If I plant a sapling, why should I go out to see why it has not become a big tree? It will take its own time. It is a great development,” he added.

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