Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s National Council meeting in New Delhi yesterday.
Agencies/New Delhi
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched a stinging attack yesterday on the ruling Congress Party, setting the stage for a pitched political battle in general elections next year.
Modi, tipped to be the prime ministerial candidate of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), blamed Congress for the troubles facing the country at a meeting in New Delhi to set his party’s election strategy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress-led coalition has been buffeted by a slowing economy, high inflation and a series of corruption allegations.
“Congress has sacrificed the country for one family,” Modi, 62, told the meeting, referring to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty which has given the country three premiers since independence in 1947.
“The Congress Party is incapable of taking the country forward... the prime minister is nothing but a puppet of the Gandhi family,” Modi said to cheers from his supporters.
The Congress rejected Modi’s comments as “self-propaganda.”
“Manmohan Singh is the prime minister of the country and not just of the Congress. His name should be taken with respect. His honour is the country’s honour,” said party spokesman Rashid Alvi.
The Congress and the BJP are poised to go head-to-head in elections in May next year but have yet to name their candidates for prime minister.
However, political observers have been predicting a showdown between Modi and Rahul Gandhi- the 42-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty - with the 80-year-old Singh unlikely to lead the Congress coalition again.
He termed Singh as a “night watchman.”
Modi said if Pranab Mukherjee, the current president, had been made prime minister, the country would not have suffered as much.
Noting that leaders like V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar and I K Gujral could become prime ministers only after they left the Congress, Modi said: “Congress is like a termite.”
“The people of the country have decided to uproot the Congress... Getting rid of Congress is a patriotic job, the same work that was done to get freedom. The way swaraj (self-governance) came, su-raj (good governance) will also come,” Modi asserted.
“The time has come for a comparison between the BJP and the Congress,” Modi said.
“BJP is with a mission, Congress is for commission,” he said to loud applause.
Modi, however, remains a hugely divisive figure.
He was at the helm in Gujarat during religious riots in 2002 in which some 2,000 people - mainly Muslims - were killed.
One of Modi’s former ministers was jailed for life for instigating the killing, but all investigations have cleared Modi of personal responsibility.
Modi has grown in stature since his third successive win in state elections last year. His main selling point is the economic success of Gujarat, which has enjoyed annual growth rates of between 10 and 12% since 2007.
In his speech yesterday, Modi lashed out at Congress for its “skewed” economic policies.
“There is talk of economic reform, but is this reform? Administrative measures to correct bad governance should not be taken as economic reform,” he charged.
Leader after leader of the BJP, at the three-day national executive meeting, showered praise on Modi. They draped him with rose garlands in a sign of respect.
A senior party leader said there was a groundswell of support for Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.
“There’s a growing interest in Modi as the PM candidate,” Arun Jaitley, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, said in an interview. “And it’s just not because of a media buzz.”
“I think Modi has made a huge mark on the India polity.”
Supporters chanted “Hail Modi” and “Bring Modi” during speeches at the meeting. Party chief Rajnath Singh embraced Modi and heaped praise on his achievements in Gujarat.
Modi’s reputation for clean governance and clear rules make him popular with the middle class and a favourite of Indian and foreign corporations doing business in his state.
“Gujarat has become a symbol of pride for BJP,” said the party president in his speech on Saturday.
Advani asks BJP not to tolerate corruption
IANS/New Delhi
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani yesterday urged party chief Rajnath Singh to adopt “zero tolerance” against corruption.
In his speech at the party’s national council meeting here, Advani cautioned party leaders against indiscipline and speaking out of turn before TV cameras but he elaborated on the issue with much more forthrightness in his written speech the text of which was made available to media.
The written speech talked about the need for reaching out to minorities and to remedy the situation created by the BJP gaining image of a “party with differences” over the last few years but neither issue formed part of his address.
In the written speech, Advani appeared to have made a veiled criticism of former party chief Nitin Gadkari as he referred to the BJP’s inability to respond adequately to the people’s mood against corruption following support to Anna Hazare’s movement.
“Unfortunately, the BJP failed to read, and respond adequately to this mood. In the two houses of parliament, the party attacked government strongly on both these issues. But our overall response outside was a disappointment for even our own supporters,” Advani said.
The veteran leader also elaborated on the need to make the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance stronger.