Gujarat Chief Minister and national BJP campaign committee chairman Narendra Modi began his hour-long speech in Telugu, receiving a big cheer from the one lakh odd audience, before shifting to Hindi.
He finished with a “Yes we can” following up with “Jai Telangana, Jai Seemandhra, Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vande Mataram”.
Blaming the Congress for mishandling the Telangana issue, he said, “When Jharkhand bifurcated from Bihar, both Bihar and Jharkhand celebrated, when Chhattisgarh was created out of MP, both Chhattisgarh and MP celebrated. Similarly, Uttarakhand and UP celebrated when Uttarakhand was created,” he remarked.
“The Congress government is not serious on any issue. They are not worried about the country and the welfare of people. They are unable to give protection to people. It is only interested in votebank politics and divide and rule game,” he added.
“It could not provide roti to the common man and is now thinking about the Food Security Bill. I am worried about you... the youth who seek employment and livelihood,” he said.
“A movement has started in the country to free people from the clutches of the Congress. Corruption has destroyed the country. L.K. Advaniji fought for bringing back black money stashed in banks abroad, but Delhi rejected it. Whose black money is it?” he asked.
Reminding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s promise of hitting back at Pakistan after the beheading of a soldier, he asked why the Prime Minister was silent now when five soldiers have been gunned down.
Mr Modi also took strong exception to foreign minister Salman Khurshid’s comments that he would love to stay in Beijing after his visit there despite the Chinese violation of the Line of Actual Control.
Making a veiled attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said Italian Marines involved in killing of two Kerala fishermen were allowed to go when an Indian in jail charged with murder can’t get bail. “On whose influence were they allowed to go to Italy?... If not for the Supreme Court’s strong intervention and warning to its high commissioner, they would have never returned,” he said.