Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he would fight for justice for the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims and blamed the previous Congress governments in the Centre for not delivering justice in 35 long years.
"The whole country knows what the 'guru of naamdar' (Sam Pitroda) said about 1984 riots. The party is in chaos because the truth is out," Modi said at an election meeting in this Punjab town, the home turf of the Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal.
"Naamdar (Rahul Gandhi), you should be ashamed. What does 'hua toh hua' mean? People were burnt alive, families were destroyed. Yet, you shamelessly claim 'hua toh hua'," he said in his 10-minute address where Badal and other Akali leaders were present.
Badal's daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur is again in the fray as a Shriomani Akali Dal-BJP candidate from Bathinda.
The Prime Minister said: "This chowkidar has assured that he will fight for justice for the 1984 victims. With the blessings of Badal sahab, we were successful in giving one death penalty and others life sentence."
"The rest who are responsible will also be convicted soon," he added.
Earlier in the day, at a rally in Khanna town, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said he told Sam Pitroda to apologize to the nation for his remarks in connection with the 1984 riots and said those guilty should be punished.
Reacting to his assertions, Modi said: "Naamdaar, you pretended to scold your mentor for what? Because he publicly said what had always been in Congress' heart? It's you who should be ashamed."
He lambasted the Congress for appointing a leader who was facing allegations of the riots as a Minister at the Centre and making him in-charge of Punjab.
"When there was opposition, there was drama to remove him, and the Congress then made the same person the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh," the BJP leader added.
Punjab will go to the polls for its 13 Lok Sabha seats on May 19.