While Gujarat voted for the first phase of polling on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued with his relentless campaign for the second phase holding a 50-km-long roadshow and attacking the Congress for calling him names.
The roadshow between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar saw the Prime Minister riding a vehicle and waving to voters lined up on both the sides of the road starting from the Naroda Gam and ending at Gandhinagar South constituency.
The three-hour mega roadshow spanned across 16 Assembly constituencies falling in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly election.
Modi made at least 35 stops at the memorials of prominent personalities, including Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, on the way.
Striking at the rival Congress for using “Ravan” jibe at him, the Prime Minister sought to put the Opposition party on the mat by asking the people to “teach the Congress leaders a lesson” by voting for the “lotus” (BJP’s symbol) in the State elections as “such abusive words used for him” were an “insult” to Gujarat and its people” because he was “raised by the people of this land”.
Sharpening his attack against the Congress, the main rival in the triangular Gujarat contest with the AAP being also in the fray, the Prime Minister said that it only raised slogans of “garibi hatao” and “misguided people” and that that poverty actually increased under the grand old party’s regime.
This he said at in Bodeli town of Chhotaudepur district in Gujarat, where Assembly elections will be held in its second phase on December 5.
Addressing another poll rally at Kalol town in Panchmahal district of Gujarat, the Prime Minister said there is a competition among Congress leaders as to who will use the most abusive words against him, referring to the Opposition party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s “Ravan” jibe at him.
Before Kharge, another Congress leader had said the party will show Modi his “aukat” (place), the Prime Minister said, apparently referring to Madhusudan Mistry’s remark last month.
Modi said such abusive words used for him were an insult of Gujarat and its people because he was raised by the people of this land.
He asked people to teach the Congress leaders a lesson by voting for the ‘lotus’ (BJP’s symbol) in the state elections.
Kharge on Monday night addressed a rally in Behrampura area of Ahmedabad city where he said the Prime Minister asks people to vote “looking at his face” in all elections. “Are you 100-headed like Ravan,” he had said.
Modi said, “I respect Khargeji but he has to follow orders of the party high command. He was compelled to say that Modi has 100 heads like (demon king) Ravan.”
“But, the Congress did not realise that Gujarat is the land of Ram Bhakts. Those who never believed in the existence of Lord Ram, have now brought in Ravan from Ramayana just to abuse me,” the Prime Minister said.
“And, I am surprised they never expressed repentance, forget about tendering an apology, after using such cuss words for me. Congress leaders think it is their right to use abusive language for Modi and insult the country’s Prime Minister,” he said. In an apparent jibe at the Gandhi family, Modi said Congress leaders are abusing him because their allegiance is towards a family, not India’s democracy.
“For decades, Congress has been saying only one thing -- Garibi Hatao (eliminate poverty). People gave you power to do that, but you were asking people to remove poverty. The only thing they did was to raise slogans, give promises and misguide people. That was the reason why poverty actually increased during its regime,” Modi alleged in his public meeting in Bodeli town.
Due to the previous Congress-led Government’s policies, poor citizens could not play an active role in the economy, he said, adding that although banks were nationalised under the Congress rule, the poor could not open their bank accounts.
Referring to Droupadi Murmu’s election as the President earlier this year, Modi alleged that the Opposition party was not in favour of a tribal woman occupying the country’s top Constitutional post and that was why it fielded its own candidate.