New Delhi: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi yesterday made his debut as the campaign committee chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while exhorting people of vote the ruling Congress party out of power.
Addressing a huge gathering at election-bound Rajasthan capital Jaipur, Modi equated the Congress party with corruption and coined a new political alphabet by listing ABCD of corrupt practices of the Congress party.
“A is for Adarsh (housing society scam of Mumbai), B for Bofors (gun deal), C for CWG (Commonwealth games) and D for Damad ka karobaar (business of the son-in-law),” Modi said at the rally. The son-in-law in question is Robert Vadra, son-in-law of the Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi whose business practices, especially real estate dealings in Haryana and Rajasthan are being questioned by the opposition.
The rally was also attended by the BJP national president Rajnath Singh and the state unit chief Vasundhara Raje, who in case of the BJP victory in the desert state will become the chief minister.
“If you want to get rid of corrupt from our country, the remedy is to get rid of Congress (party),” Modi told a cheering crowd.
Modi was appointed BJP’s central campaign committee chief in June this year and is poised to be named as its prime ministerial candidate in the next few days for the next year’s general elections. Rajasthan along with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi are slated to elect their new legislative assemblies in November this year. Outcomes in these four states are being seen as crucial since it may reflect moods of the voters for April-May 2014 general elections. While Congress party rules Rajasthan and Delhi, BJP is in power in the remaining two states.
Modi reminded the crowd that they did a mistake last time and were paying for it by electing the Congress party in Rajasthan in 2008 and at the centre in 2009.
What must have excited Modi the most in the large crowd was the presence of Muslims. They were brought to the rally by BJP’s minority wing. Muslim men were asked to wear the traditional skull cap while Muslim women were asked to wear veil so that anyone could identify them and see Muslims do not hate Modi, as the opponents of BJP make out due to his alleged but yet to be proven involvement in 2002 Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
Modi used the occasion to lash out at incumbent prime minister Manmohan Singh who had the other day expressed his willingness to work under the Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi while advocating Rahul’s projection as the ruling coalition’s prime ministerial candidate.
“The nation had no idea what India’s stand at the G-20 summit was. The PM returned to announce who his new boss would be.
While it is no secret that in case of the ruling United Progressive Alliance’s victory next year, Rahul Gandhi would replace Singh as the prime minister of the country, Singh’s announcement has made both Modi and the BJP happy since it has given the nation an opportunity to compare the two – a reluctant politically immature Rahul Gandhi with a mass and matured leader Modi.
Irrespective of when Modi is named as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, a string of rallies has been planned for him in various states of the country to enable him spread his wings and further establish his credentials as the most popular BJP leader acceptable all over the country.
