In the centre of a fierce attack from the Opposition, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Monday lampooned Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as a “specimen” having “little knowledge” of Gujarat and also targeted National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah for saying that those voting for Modi should drown in the sea. Modi said that the biggest blow to secularism in India was delivered in Kashmir from where Kashmiri Pandits were forced out due to their religion.
“If somebody has to drown then you should look at your face (Farooq Abdullah) in the mirror. Put your father’s face in front of the mirror and ask this question. Those who have chased Kashmiri Pandits out have no face to preach against communalism,” Modi said in a hard-hitting statement using a video message released by the Chief Minister’s Office.
However, Modi chose Rahul for delivering his sharpest cut in public rallies in Gujarat when he dubbed Rahul a “specimen” who has “little knowledge” of Gujarat. The Congress vice-president hit back, accusing Modi and the BJP of adopting “double standards” on corruption and favouring select industrialists. Modi lampooned Rahul for dishing out “falsehoods” in his speeches about vast job vacancies and the institution of the lokayukta in his State. He also alleged that the Congress had so far sent 100 emissaries to his hometown of Vadnagar to find out if he used to sell tea or not.
“If you want to relieve stress, listen to Rahul’s speeches. As per his mathematics, there are 27,000-crore jobs lying vacant in Gujarat. How can this be possible when the total population of Gujarat is six croresIJ What kind of namuna (specimen) has the Congress broughtIJ” asked Modi during his rally in Kheralu town under Patan lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. later, addressing a rally in Bhatinda in Punjab, Rahul came down heavily on Modi accusing him and the BJP of adopting double standards on corruption and favouring select industrialists, particularly the Adani group.
Another senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley returned the verbal fire from the Gandhi family on Modi by attacking Priyanka Vadra for her remarks comparing the BJP leaders to “panic-stricken rats”. Claiming that she had “lowered the political discourse” with her language, Jaitley said the Vadra family needs to be “scared of the law”. “She has compared the BJP to “panic-stricken rats”. Ms Vadra has lowered the quality of political discourse by her comments...If any of my family members started referring to my opponents as rats and reptiles I surely would be a worried man,” the BJP leader wrote on his blog.
The war of words between BJP leaders and Priyanka began on Sunday when she referred to the Opposition party as “panic-stricken rats” after it released a video showing alleged wrongdoings in land deals involving her husband Robert Vadra. The campaigning for the seventh phase of the ongoing lok Sabha elections is set to conclude on Monday. Eighty-nine constituencies in seven States and two Union Territories will go to polls in this phase, making it the fourth largest of the nine phases.
The BJP upped its ante by questioning the “silence” of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul on the issue of Vadra’s controversial land deals and said it is only adding to the suspicion that the “family” has something to avoid. Party spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman charged Sonia and Rahul with evading queries on corruption and said the Vadra issue will remain till the Congress chief and vice-president come clean on it.