New Delhi: Narendra Modi's address at a BJP strategy meet today was an aggressive attack on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, whose party decided two days ago that he will not be named the official prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections.
Mr Modi, who is the BJP's candidate for PM, alleged that there were several reasons for that decision of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Primarily, that her party "is staring at certain defeat."
"Will a mother ever sacrifice her son's future? Sonia Gandhi decided to protect her son," Mr Modi said, adding, "Congress workers came for a PM and got three cylinders instead." (
Highlights of Mr Modi's speech)
He was referring to a Congress meet on Friday where clamouring workers were told that the decision on Mr Gandhi would not be reconsidered. Mr Gandhi had at that meet ensured that the government will give more subsidised cooking gas cylinders to every household.
Mr Modi also accused the Congress of being "elitists" who won't fight a "commoner," happy to accept the opportunity presented to him by that party's Mani Shankar Aiyar to emphasize once again his family was not rich and that he sold tea on trains.
And for the first time, the Gujarat Chief Minister added a reference to his being from a backward caste. They feel it's an insult to fight against a tea vendor... How can they take on someone from a backward caste whose mother used to wash dishes?" he said.
Mr Aiyar had at the Congress' conclave said, "There is no way he can be Prime Minister in the 21st century... but if he wants to come and distribute tea here we can make some room for him." His party has disowned the comment. (
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Mr Modi drew comparisons between the two meetings the rival parties held in Delhi at the same time. He ripped into Rahul Gandhi's speech at the Congress meet, using rhyme and rhetoric to explain he believed the BJP's formula was the one the country needed.
"We don't just need bills, we need political will and a
dil (heart)," said Mr Modi about Rahul Gandhi's priority to pass six anti-corruption bills in Parliament. The country, he said, needed "not acts, but action."