Congress slams Narendra Modi, calls him national embarrassment, proverbial frog; focus on rupee: BJP

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New Delhi/Dehradun: A day after he lashed out at the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was today at the receiving end with Congress leaders dubbing him a "national embarrassment" and a proverbial frog just out of the well, groping for a right place.
"Modi may be an asset to the BJP but he is a national embarrassment. I can say this without any hesitation. He is boastful and makes tall claims about the development model of Gujarat," Union Minister Anand Sharma told reporters.
In Dehradun, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Modi was like a frog. "What should I say about Modi? He is like a frog just out of the well and at a loss to find the right place for himself in the big wide world," he said in response to a question.
Ridiculing Gujarat strongman and BJP's election campaign committee chief for challenging Singh for a public debate, Khurshid said Modi was quite keen that Congress accepts him as a challenge.
"We are fighting the election against the BJP. First he (Modi) should get hold over the BJP. Thereafter we will see, whether he is a challenge or not. Right now he is not being able to convince BJP itself," he said.
Hitting back at Modi, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh accused him of "crossing all limits in over-ambition" by his no-holds bar attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Latching on to L K Advani's apparent disapproval of Modi's attack on the Prime Minister in Bhuj on Thursday, Digvijay took potshots at Modi for his "abrasive hunger for power which has no limits".
"On Modi's Independence (Day) Speech, I and Advaniji are on the same page. Modi's abrasive hunger for power has no limits," Singh wrote on microblogging site Twitter. Talking to reporters, he later added,
"The manner in which Modi has targeted the Prime Minister, he has broken all the established norms and traditions. It is his over-ambition, which is behind all this. Now there is no limit for him.
"He (Modi) has crossed all limits. Now it should be a worry for BJP leaders that how long will they keep carrying such an over-ambitious person on their shoulders."
Taking on Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said when the Prime Minister speaks from the ramparts of Red Fort, he represents the hopes and aspirations of 120 crore people of the country and if anybody thinks that he can compare one's speech with that of the PM's speech, "nothing can reflect one's desperation more".