Just as BJP leaders are busy in immersing the ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee a week after his demise, his niece and Congress leader Karuna Shukla has accused the Modi government and Chhattisgarh BJP of politicising the matter in view of the upcoming elections.

Questioning BJP's move to launch schemes and names places after Vajpayee, Shukla told a news channel, "Atal ji was above party lines; he was a leader of the country. I'm upset because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been in power at the Centre for the last four-and-a-half years, and Chief Minister Raman Singh has been in power in Chhattisgarh for the last 15 years. In the past four-and-a-half years, how did Singh, Modi, and their respective Cabinets not think about Atal ji?"