New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong pitch for his re-election in the next Lok Sabha elections as he launched a scathing attack on the Congress saying it had pushed the country into darkness, bled banks and had created road blocks to an early judicial solution to the Ayodhya dispute.
Winding up the two-day BJP National Convention, he cautioned people about who they chose as their “pradhan sevak” (principal servant), one who worked 18 hours a day tirelessly and one who would not go on holidays.
In his valedictory address in which he set the tone for the BJP’s bid to come back to power again, Modi said he had led a government whose track record was “spotless”, which had worked with honesty for all sections, ended despondency, raised people’s confidence, accelerated the pace of development and enhanced India’s stature. “For the first time it has happened that there is no allegation of corruption against the government. We can be proud that we have a spotless record,” he said.
Modi made several veiled attacks on Rahul Gandhi, saying he had met those who were talking of breaking India, had met the Chinese envoy during the Doklam standoff and had alleged “khoon ki dalali” over surgical strikes.
He said the governments of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and now Chhattisgarh had barred the CBI but he never did so as Gujarat chief minister though the Congress did not leave any opportunity to harass him through probe agencies.
Modi said he faced the SIT questioning for nine hours as chief minister (over the 2002 Gujarat riots) as he had faith in the law, institutions and truth.
“But they are scared of their misdeeds. You have faith on institutions. They do not have faith in the CBI, CAG. Can we hand over the country to them. We have faith in the constitution, they have on the sultanate,” he said.
Referring to the National Herald case without naming Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, he said members of the “first family” of the Congress were on bail and the case pertained to 2012 when the UPA was in power. He said they had been repeatedly called by the probe agencies, 44 times overall and six times in six months, but they had not presented themselves.
“We are `naamdars’, how can we go, how can we be asked questions. The fact is that they have problem with truth. What are they hiding, we do not know. People on bail do not respect institutions, what respect they will give to the country. They have faith on ‘rajshahi’ (feudalism) and we on ‘lokshahi’ (democracy),” he said.
“Do people want a `sevak’ who provokes family members, steals from the house, distributes the goodies among his family members and talks ill of the family with neighbours, goes on long leave or a sevak who works day and night, works more than the owners of the house and always thinks of their welfare.
“The way you will choose a sevak, you decide what kind of pradhan sevak you want,” he said.
He accused the Congress of disrespecting institutions. (IANS)