For the first time an election is being fought "against the opposition" to keep BJP and Narendra Modi out of power, rather than against the "failures" of the government, BJP leader Arun Jaitley today said.
Claiming that Modi has been targeted by a 10-year-long smear campaign based on "false propaganda", he objected to the expression that the Gujarat Chief Minister got a "clean chit", terming it as "wrong terminology" as the court found no evidence to even sustain a case against him.
"This is first election I am seeing that where Congress and Third Front are not fighting election on their achievements, but fighting against the opposition. It is the election against the opposition and its prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi," he said, adding that it is mainly to keep the BJP and Modi out of power.
Talking about Modi, he said, "Which political leader in the country in the last 67 years has been publicly criticised in media, parliament, and in the judiciary through NGOs and political parties, and faced many false accusation in connection with 2002 incident.
"Is there any other leader who has to pass so many tests and who faced many investigations from Supreme Court and then it was found that there was no case against him. Clean chit is a wrong terminology to use for Modi. If a case is filed against someone in the court and the court gives its judgment in his favour, then it is clean chit," he said.
Jaitley said in Modi's case, the Supreme Court constituted SIT has said there is no evidence to sustain a case against him. "The court did not find the trial false, but said there are no proofs to sustain it. So the smear campaign that panned over last 10 years was based on false propaganda," he said.
The BJP leader also attacked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for changing the course of its campaign from an anti-corruption crusader to anti-Modi tirade.
He was addressing party workers at the election office of BJP's candidate for the New Delhi constituency Meenakshi lekhi.Jaitley said the newly formed AAP has also changed it stance as it started by saying it would fight against corruption, but "I have not heard a single speech where they talked about fighting corruption.
"Now they are saying that they are fighting against Modi. This party also started its journey from fighting against corruption to opposing Modi."
He accused the AAP of now trying to garner anti-Modi votes. "But, there are no anti-Modi votes available," he said, adding that the party has already exhausted its vote-share in the name of corruption.
Exhorting party workers to strive hard to ensure lekhi's victory, he said, the entire nation’s eyes are always fixed on New Delhi seat as it reflects the social characteristic of the country. "The party which wins in New Delhi, wins in the country also," he said.
Jaitley also called upon the countrymen to help give a clear majority as the idea of a Third Front government will prove to be a "nightmare".
"Today, this nation needs to have a government with a clear majority which can rule for five years and bring back the state of the country back on the rails which has been destroyed in the last 10 years by this government," he said.
Drawing a parallel between Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagrah with Modi's rallies, Jaitley said like Gandhi's simple disobedience against Britishers energised the country, huge crowds were turning up to listen to Modi.
"The Satyagrah was ridiculed by the British media but brought together the people. People had stopped coming to rallies in the last 15-20 years. But the scene has once again changed. Huge crowds are turning up at Modi's rally to see and listen to him," Jaitley said.
He added that the agenda of this election has also been set and it is being fought on two issues of people's anger over failed governance and hope of a new stable government.
"People are angry with Congress over its failure and reposing their faith in BJP and Modi," he said, adding that there is no leader in Congress who can help it cross double digit in this election.