The beleaguered Congress-led UPA Government came in for all-round criticism by BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in his first public rally in the Capital on Sunday.
From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit — Modi spared none as he took on them over rampant corruption, lowering the dignity of Parliament and the Constitution and maligning the country’s image.
However, for most part of his nearly 70-minute speech, the Congress and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi remained on the receiving end whom Modi accused of disrespecting the Prime Minister and the Union Cabinet by ridiculing the Ordinance on convicted politicians. In an appeal to the mammoth gathering, the Gujarat CM asked people whether the country would be run according to the Constitution or as per the whims of the “prince”.
Modi accused the Gandhi scion of committing the ‘sin’ of disrespecting the Prime Minister when he was abroad. Referring to Gandhi’s public ridicule of the ordinance on Friday, BJP’s chief campaigner said it was unfortunate that the vice-president of the ruling party calls the Government decision ‘nonsense’. “When his own party leader calls the PM and the Cabinet ‘nonsense’, how can he (PM) get respect abroad,” Modi said, while questioning the ability of the PM in effectively taking up India’s concerns at the international platform. Gandhi had termed as ‘complete nonsense’ the ordinance that sought to overturn a Supreme Court ruling disqualifying politicians convicted of crime.
Modi highlighted the growing contradiction between the Government and the Congress and said a parallel Government was running in the country that is led by the Gandhi family. In a scathing attack on the UPA alliance, he alleged that there were ‘Governments within the Government’ which was affecting the country’s overall growth and development. “Delhi is under the burden of Governments within the Government. In Delhi we have a mother’s Government, a son’s Government and a Government of a son-in-law. The UPA coalition is headed by the Prime Minister who is a ‘sardar’ but not ‘asardar’ (effective),” he said.
Exhorting people to bring the ‘dream team’ of BJP to power in 2014, he asked them to throw out UPA which is ‘deeply-entrenched’ in corruption. “This Government is mired in corruption. Instead of finding solutions to problems, it has stopped functioning. This Government is paralysed. The UPA Government is immersed in Gandhi-bhakti. The Gandhi-bhakti refers to currency notes which they have acquired in tonnes,” Modi alleged.
The BJP leader lamented that Manmohan Singh was projecting 1.25 billion-strong India as a ‘poor nation’ before US President Barack Obama. “My head hung in shame when the Prime Minister pleaded before Obama that he represents a poor country, that his country’s people are poor. Why did he not project India as a nation where 65 per cent of the people are below 35 years of ageIJ” Modi said, adding that the PM has behaved like some filmmakers who project India as a poor nation to make money. He also criticised the Prime Minister’s scheduled meeting with the Pakistan PM and wondered if Singh would effectively take up the issues of terrorism and beheading of Indian soldiers with his Pakistan counterpart.
In the wake of the ensuing Assembly polls in the Capital, Modi also attacked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for failing to provide adequate electricity and water to the city residents. He mocked at Dikshit saying she was the happiest Chief Minister of any State in India who had no business but to cut ribbons and pass the buck for all lapses on part of her Government. “If there is a law and order problem in Delhi, all the CM does is to blame it on the Central Government. And if the roads were in poor shape, the civic body run by the BJP was blamed,” he said, adding the Chief Minister has no responsibility or accountability. He also took up the issue of law and order in Delhi in the wake of the December 16 gang-rape case saying the CM failed to take concrete steps to ensure safety of women.
Modi criticised the Delhi and Central Governments for the way the Commonwealth Games were organised in the Capital. While South Korea and China hosted the Olympic Games to brand themselves and project their soft power, India bungled and the Games ended up becoming a major scandal.