Ambikapur:
Narendra Modi addressed a rally in election-bound Chhattisgarh today from a stage modelled on Delhi's Red Fort. Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and BJP president Rajnath Singh were also present at the rally in Ambikapur, 250 km from the state capital Raipur.
The symbolism was hard to miss. It is from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi that Prime Ministers address the nation on Independence Day.
"Next year our PM will address the people from the Red Fort on August 15, " Rajnath Singh told the over 20,000 people who'd gathered at the rally that marked the last stop of Chief Minister Raman Singh's 31-day
Vikas Yatra.
"There is a Singh in Chhattisgarh, there is a Singh in Delhi. Both are doctors. But the doctor in Chhattisgarh is a people's doctor while the one in Delhi is only a doctor of money," the Gujarat chief minister said, referring to Raman Singh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In a scathing critique of PM Manmohan Singh and his party, Mr Modi said, "The Congress can turn gold into sand. The failure of Manmohan Singh has led to such a situation that the rupee has landed in hospital where it is battling for life."
"There was a debate on coal files in Parliament. Supreme Court is asking, the Parliament is worried. But people are asking where is the Government?", Mr Modi said.
In his 25-minute speech, the Gujarat Chief Minister made a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi. "The party's culture of arrogance is at its peak now. People are battling with acute poverty and inflation while the Congress leaders are making a joke of the people's plight. Some of its leaders say that even Rs.5 is enough for getting a day's food while one leader termed poverty a state of mind," he said without naming Mr Gandhi.
Responding to the BJP's rally, Congress's Kamal Nath today quipped, "They have created a fake Red Fort in Chhattisgarh. They might also create a fake RCR (PM's residence in Delhi) to fulfill their aspirations."