BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, sharing the dais with L.K. Advani and almost all top party leaders, declared here on Wednesday that it will not be the Congress that will fight the coming general election, but that it will field the CBI in its place.
Addressing the Madhya Pradesh BJP unit’s massive “Karyakarta Mahakumbh” (party workers’ rally), Mr Modi said the Congress was pitting the CBI against the BJP as it lacked the strength to fight the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi and the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The Gujarat CM said: “The Congress Party is not going to field candidates in the elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi and the next Lok Sabha polls. The Congress will not fight the next Lok Sabha elections, but will field the CBI instead.” Saying this was a reminder of Emergency days in the 1970s, Mr Modi warned the people would not “spare the Congress” for this.
The simmering tension within the party between Mr Modi and veteran leader L.K. Advani was, meanwhile, palpable on the dais, particularly at the time all national leaders were welcomed with garlands and bouquets. Mr Advani was seen responding with a lot of warmth as Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan bent, touched his feet and took his blessings. Mr Modi, who flanked Mr Advani on the right, took some time before he too decided to touch his (Advani’s) feet, but the senior party leader chose to ignore the gesture and kept looking the other way. As the rally continued and the leaders delivered their speeches, both Mr Advani and Mr Modi, seated on either side of BJP president Rajnath Singh, kept a stoic silence and seemed to have nothing to say to each other.
The rally, that brought BJP workers from 50,000 polling booths across the state, was described as a huge success and possibly one of the biggest political gatherings “anywhere in the world”. Mr Modi said while the Congress had ruled India for 60 years, its leaders had earlier never talked of “inclusive growth”, about which they were now going overboard.
In contrast, wherever the BJP had come to power, it worked for the welfare and upliftment of dalits, exploited and deprived sections, he said. He added Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan deserved credit for forcing the Congress, which had failed to effectively implement Indira Gandhi’s 20-point programme for eradication of poverty in states where it was in power, to talk of inclusive growth at this juncture.
Mr Modi accused the Congress-led UPA government of discriminating against state governments where the Congress was not in power while allocating funds or in other decisions. For example, he said, the Centre was not allowing Gujarat to fix the gates on the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Once it was completed, Madhya Pradesh would get 800 MW of electricity free of cost from Gujarat, he said.
Mr Modi went on to claim that there was a “wave” in favour of the BJP across the country, but went on to warn party workers that they should not get complacent and must ensure that public support for the BJP got converted into votes.
Mr Advani, declaring the rally open, said two lakh party workers had attended a similar rally here in 2008. Such large numbers, he said, indicated that no party in the country had such strength at the grassroots level. BJP president Rajnath Singh spoke of corruption and various scams that had surfaced under the UPA government, and said the BJP was the only party that could provide “good governance”. Mr Singh said the BJP would win the 2013 Assembly elections under Mr Chouhan’s leadership and this would pave the way for the BJP’s victory in the 2014 parliamentary election, and there would be no hurdle in the way of Mr Modi becoming Prime Minister.
Mr Chouhan began his speech by addressing Mr Modi as a “symbol of good governance and development” and a “future Prime Minister”. The rally was also addressed by the Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, as well as by senior leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Uma Bharti and state unit chief Narendra Singh Tomar.