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Congress gets “Jai Ho”

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Congress is understood to have bought the rights of award-winning song “Jai Ho” in Slumdog Millionaire for using it in its election campaign.

A senior party leader said “Jai Ho” showcased what the Congress represented to the people of India. The song represented hope and possibility in the film based on a rags-to-riches story and the Congress-led government rekindled hope in the multitudes, he said.

Modi takes a dig

PTI reports:

At a rally in Thane on Monday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the “real credit” for Slumdog Millionaire’s Oscar glory should go to the Congress. But for that party’s rule for several decades, there would not have been any slum to be made a movie.

Mr. Modi said actor Paresh Rawal showed him an SMS in circulation that said, “the credit for Slumdog getting Oscar awards should go to India’s ruling Congress party because without years of the Congress rule there would not have been slums in India.”

The Chief Minister said he agreed with the spirit of the SMS. “... Because of slums, we have a movie on it and as a result, we have awards. So the credit for the Oscars goes to the Congress. It is a result of the misdeeds of the Congress and it is a Congress miracle.”

“Perverted mindset”

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said the reason, as she saw it, for the Oscar glory had absolutely nothing to do with slums. Nor did it have anything to do with the Congress rule.

“The remarks show a perverted mindset, which has become so much part of Mr. Modi’s thinking,” Ms. Natarajan said.

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