Modi ridicules Rahul over PM candidacy

Modi seeks blessing from Lal Krishna Advani as the party’s president Rajnath Singh looks on in New Delhi yesterday.

Agencies/New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi mocked the ruling Congress yesterday for refusing to name Rahul Gandhi as its choice for premier in upcoming elections.

In a speech in the capital, Modi said Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not want to sacrifice her son Rahul politically at the general elections in coming months, which the party is widely tipped to lose.

“I see a very human, sensitive reason for their (Congress’s) decision. Would any mother sacrifice her son?” Modi told hundreds of party officials.

“The mother thought ‘no, save my son’,” Modi said to laughter and applause from BJP leaders, who have been meeting in New Delhi to prepare for the general elections.

Sonia Gandhi on Friday batted away pleas from her Congress supporters during a mass meeting to name Rahul as their candidate for the polls due by May.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh retiring after two terms, the party had been expected to nominate Rahul, a Congress MP who has generally shunned the limelight, as its choice for premier at the meet.

In an over hour-long speech Modi outlined his vision of a new India if the BJP gets to rule the country.

Amid the euphoria, patriarch L K Advani sounded a note of caution, warning the BJP not to be overconfident because a similar mindset led to a shock defeat in the 2004 battle.

While Modi made no reference to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), others, including party president Rajnath Singh, referred to it in their speeches, saying the Arvind Kejriwal outfit was only a Congress front.

Modi sought to contrast his humble beginnings as the son of a tea vendor with Rahul whose family has dominated Indian politics since independence in 1947.

Modi said 43-year-old bachelor Rahul was too ashamed to go head to head with him at the elections.

“Rahul Gandhi feels shameful in fighting elections against a tea vendor,” Modi told the crowd.

In a bitter attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, Modi questioned the Congress’ democratic credentials after it said it didn’t name Rahul as the prime ministerial candidate because it is the MPs who pick someone for the top post after elections.

If this was the case, he asked why the Congress did not pick Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as prime minister in 1947, how Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in within hours of Indira Gandhi’s killing, and how Congress president Sonia Gandhi unilaterally chose Manmohan Singh for the top post in 2004.

Outlining his idea for tomorrow, Modi said he wanted an India where “truth alone triumphed, non-violence is the prime ‘dharma’, all spiritual paths are treated equally and women are respected.”

In remarks clearly aimed at regional parties, he said that if the BJP took power, the country’s federal structure would be cemented and regional aspirations would be addressed.

“The Congress got 60 years to rule India, give us 60 months.”

Rajnath Singh earlier cautioned: “The Congress will never want the BJP to get a clear majority. So they will use their deceitful ways.

“Any vote for a non-NDA (National Democratic Alliance) party will at the end go to the Congress kitty.”

On Saturday, he had said the BJP wanted to win over 272 seats in the Lok Sabha but that the Congress was making attempts to thwart its goal.

A political resolution passed at the meeting came down sharply on Prime Minister Singh.

“Manmohan Singh has not left any noticeable footprint to enable history to give him any place of significance,” said the resolution adopted by the BJP national council.

Manmohan Singh had this month warned that Modi as prime minister would be a disaster for India.

Pollsters predict a defeat for Congress, with voters troubled by high inflation, slowing economic growth which has hit the job market and a series of corruption scandals.

The BJP named fiery hardliner Modi as its candidate in September and the party’s campaign has been centred around him and his 13 years in charge of the western state of Gujarat.

A survey last week said that only 14% of voters believed Rahul Gandhi would make the best prime minister while 58% opted for Modi.

But Modi, a pro-business reformer with a reputation for running a relatively clean administration, is also known for his Hindu nationalist leanings and is accused by critics of turning a blind eye to savage anti-Muslim riots in his state in 2002.