‘No party more poisonous than Congress’
Banswara (Raj): Returning Sonia Gandhi’s barb, Narendra Modi on Sunday said no party can be more poisonous than Congress as it has thrived on what she had called the “poison of power” for almost half a century.
A day after Sonia Gandhi said BJP was a party of poisonous people, Modi, addressing an election rally here, said Rahul Gandhi had once recalled that his mother Sonia had compared power to poison.
“Madam’s Shehzada once said in Jaipur that his mother told him that power is poison. They ruled the country for almost 50 years since independence…then who has tasted poison for longer period…it is Congress…then who else can be more poisonous (than Congress),” Modi said.
He said Rahul speaks about poverty only when media is around and asked why he hasn’t done anything for people living in the slum adjacent to his house. “Shehzada talks about the poor and poverty, but only where there is media. Twice or thrice in a year, a photo shoot takes place for showing that he is concerned about poverty. “In Delhi, yesterday, people told me that Rahul’s bungalow is in the constituency of the Delhi Chief Minister and adjacent to the bungalow, there is a slum area of 800 people but there are only two public toilets. “800 people and only two toilets…a resident would have to wait for months for his turn to come. But all these things are not visible to Congress, they only see poverty where media is present. They do not care for others,” Modi said.
Attacking the government over rising inflation, he said the people should forget, and not forgive, Congress in the election as it had easily forgotten its promise made in the 2009 general elections of controlling prices in 100 days after coming to power.
“Before last elections, Congress had promised to control inflation in 100 days, but what happened? Prices went high and there is no control over the skyrocketing inflation. “All the three leaders — Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi — visited Rajasthan, but none of them talked about inflation and did not say what their government did to control it,” he said.
Addressing the meeting in a tribal-dominated region adjacent to Gujarat, Modi said the tribal community had made great contribution to the country’s independent movement.
“But Congress propagates that only one family has made all the sacrifices for the nation. They have ignored the sacrifices of tribals, but the fact is that the time period they spent in palaces is more than the time they spent in jails,” he said.
The BJP leader said it was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government which had formed a dedicated ministry for tribals and made provision in budget for their welfare, whereas Congress sees tribals as mere voters and talks about them only when elections are around. He said his government had made a memorial of Govind Guru at Mangarh in Banswara which has now become a holy place.
“Incident like Jallianwala bagh massacre took place at Mangarh. Tribals with inspiration from Govind Guru fought against Britishers. I pay homage to them,” he said.
Modi also said Congress makes fun of tribals. “A stalwart intelligent Congress leader said inflation is rising because the poor, Dalits and tribals are heating two vegetables in their meal. Do you agree?” Modi asked people, saying leaders with such thinking can do no good for the poor. “It is political insensitiveness,” he said.
The BJP leader said Vasundhara Raje-led previous BJP government in Rajasthan had made efforts for the development of the state and taken it out of the category of ‘Bimaru’ pradesh, but the situation reversed in Congress rule. “Only BJP government can do development,” Modi asserted. He also praised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh for development. Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria and other local leaders were present in the meeting. (PTI)