'Yeh dil maange more': Narendra Modi uses Kargil martyr's phrase, upsets his family | NDTV.com
Palampur: Campaigning in Palampur, the Himachal Pradesh hometown of Kargil martyr Vikram Batra today, Narendra Modi borrowed his famous catch-phrase to ask for votes: "Yeh Dil Maange More!"
Captain Batra's family was not impressed. "BJP must not drag his name into politics," said his father, GL Batra.
His mother, Kamal Kanta Batra, the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from neighboring Hamirpur, suggested that Mr Modi withdraw the BJP candidate against her "if he feels so indebted to martyrs."
Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said in Palampur, "I want your best wishes. I want to serve you. You've given them (Congress) 60 years. Can't you give me 60 months? Yeh dil maange more! Give me 60 months."
"Where will more Vikram Batras come from?" he asked, accusing the Congress of betraying India's soldiers.
At another rally in the state, Mr Modi said, "Vikram Batra died for the country - he had said - yeh dil maange more. I say it too. I want all four seats in Himachal. I want 300 lotuses across India."
Captain Batra famously used the phrase from an ad campaign in an interview to NDTV, before he died fighting the 1999 Kargil war. He was 24.
In Hamirpur, known for its large concentration of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers, Capt Batra's 66-year-old mother makes her electoral debut against the BJP's prominent MP Anurag Thakur and Rajinder Singh Rana, of the Congress.
To the family's challenge that Mr Modi should withdraw its candidate against Mr Batra, the BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi said, "Mrs Batra should have joined the BJP before contesting the polls against Anurag Thakur." (read: Kargil hero Vikram Batra's mother fights the ballot war)
Mrs Batra, who has been reticent about using her war hero son's name during her campaign, had told NDTV earlier, "Vikram Batra was not just my son, he belonged to the nation. It is our duty to remember him and people should support us."
Captain Batra was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest war-time gallantry award.
Palampur: Campaigning in Palampur, the Himachal Pradesh hometown of Kargil martyr Vikram Batra today, Narendra Modi borrowed his famous catch-phrase to ask for votes: "Yeh Dil Maange More!"
Captain Batra's family was not impressed. "BJP must not drag his name into politics," said his father, GL Batra.
His mother, Kamal Kanta Batra, the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from neighboring Hamirpur, suggested that Mr Modi withdraw the BJP candidate against her "if he feels so indebted to martyrs."
Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said in Palampur, "I want your best wishes. I want to serve you. You've given them (Congress) 60 years. Can't you give me 60 months? Yeh dil maange more! Give me 60 months."
"Where will more Vikram Batras come from?" he asked, accusing the Congress of betraying India's soldiers.
At another rally in the state, Mr Modi said, "Vikram Batra died for the country - he had said - yeh dil maange more. I say it too. I want all four seats in Himachal. I want 300 lotuses across India."
Captain Batra famously used the phrase from an ad campaign in an interview to NDTV, before he died fighting the 1999 Kargil war. He was 24.
In Hamirpur, known for its large concentration of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers, Capt Batra's 66-year-old mother makes her electoral debut against the BJP's prominent MP Anurag Thakur and Rajinder Singh Rana, of the Congress.
To the family's challenge that Mr Modi should withdraw its candidate against Mr Batra, the BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi said, "Mrs Batra should have joined the BJP before contesting the polls against Anurag Thakur." (read: Kargil hero Vikram Batra's mother fights the ballot war)
Mrs Batra, who has been reticent about using her war hero son's name during her campaign, had told NDTV earlier, "Vikram Batra was not just my son, he belonged to the nation. It is our duty to remember him and people should support us."
Captain Batra was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest war-time gallantry award.