BJP needles Congress over debate challenge

IANS/New Delhi

The BJP yesterday took a dig at the Congress over Law Minister Kapil Sibal’s challenge to Narendra Modi to a public debate, saying it had come not from Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi but his “followers”.

 Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain referred to Sibal’s challenge to Modi and said  Congress leaders had to make up for the “loss to the party due to Gandhi’s speeches”.

“Chelas (followers) are getting ready for debate. Every day, a minister comes forward. First it was Manish Tewari, today it is Sibal,” Hussain said.

Attacking Sibal, Hussain said the minister had come up with the “zero loss” theory in the controversial 2G spectrum allocation. “This was done while the investigation was still on,” he pointed out.

Hussain claimed that Gandhi’s speeches had caused damage to the Congress and Sibal had come out with new tactics to divert the attention of people.

“Whenever Rahul Gandhi makes a speech, the Congress has to follow up with clarifications for a week afterwards,” Hussain said. “Why has he (Sibal) not come out with statistics on price rise, corruption, terrorism and soldiers killed on the border?” the BJP leader asked.

Sibal yesterday challenged Modi to a public debate and said the Gujarat chief minister, who is also the prime minister candidate of the BJP, is a man with no leader-like vision.

Modi, meanwhile, continued his anti-Congress chant yesterday, claiming in Pune that inflation was under control only during the rule of the Janata Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Under Congress rule, inflation has risen so much that it has become difficult for people to even afford two square meals a day, Modi said, addressing party workers.

Accusing the Congress of being “arrogant”, he said that it would be difficult for the party to come back to power in the 2014 general elections as there winds of change were blowing across the country.

“Wherever I travel in the country, I get the feeling that it is difficult for the Congress to return to power - there’s a clear anti-Congress wave sweeping the nation,” he said.

Listing the failures of the Congress party, Modi urged the people to vote for the BJP and give it a chance to form the next government at the centre.

“The time has come for the people to decide whether the BJP should get a chance to form the government at the centre,” he said.

Attacking the Congress on the inflation issue, Modi said that those who make “false promises” have no right to continue in power and should be taught a lesson. “They had promised to control prices within 100 days… What happened? Did the prices come down? They went up,” he said, amidst a loud round of applause.

Later, Modi inaugurated the new wing of the Dinanath Mangeshkar Superspeciality Hospital in the presence of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.