[1]New Delhi: In a stinging counteroffensive to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's “burqa of secularism“ barb at the Congress, the ruling party on Monday said that it was much better than “naked communalism“, and punctured development claims made by the BJP poll campaign chief, saying Gujarat under Modi lagged behind on several socioeconomic indicators.
A day after Modi charged the Congress with “hiding in a bunker“ each time it was confronted with a crisis, AICC general secretary Ajay Maken, also chief of his party's communications department, charged the chairman of the campaign committee of the BJP with resorting to a disinformation campaign.
Accusing Modi of presenting “erroneous“ and “false“ figures, Maken said a person who has “not been able to serve his own people properly“ and “failed“ in his own state has no business telling the country what to do.
“I want to ask him what did he do in Gujarat that he keeps touring the whole country trying to give lessons to the youth,“ said the Congress leader, adding that only a handful from Gujarat had won Olympic medals.
I&B minister Manish Tewari said the choice before the people was an inclusive India or an India that is sectarian. “The vision of the Congress party is pluralistic and inclusive. And the vision of the section of the Opposition has been sectarian, majoritarian and communal right from the beginning,“ he said.
In a rebuttal, BJP spokesperson Capt. Abhimanyu said: “ Instead of responding to the questions raised by Modi, they ask questions about Gujarat...the Congress only talks about Modi. This shows how much Modi-phobia and Namo-nia the Congress is suffering from.“
BJP: Shun Modi-phobia
The BJP charged the Congress with lowering the level of political discourse by evading issues of good governance, development and corruption and asked the ruling party to shun its “Modi-phobia“.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/makenjpg-285