The Shiv Sena on Tuesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gesture of washing the feet of sanitation workers at the Kumbh Mela, but said the question before these people is of their "stomach" and not feet. The remarks came two days after Modi took a dip at the Sangam in Uttar Pradesh and conducted 'charan vandana' (washing the feet) of select sanitation workers as a mark of respect for their efforts in keeping the Kumbh Mela clean.

"Modi should be congratulated for washing the feet of sanitation workers, but the question concerning them is not about their feet but their stomach," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'. The prime minister's "kar seva" (service with hands) will be successful only when these workers are able to stand on their own feet, the Marathi publication opined. On Sunday, the prime minister also launched the ambitious Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Referring to it, the Sena said the poll season has begun and the government has taken a slew of decisions, including PM-KISAN scheme and cutting GST from 12 to 5 per cent on under-construction houses.