Ahmedabad:
Buoyed by his last week's Sadbhavana fast, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today upped the ante against the Congress accusing it of conspiring to dislodge his government through Raj Bhavan.
Addressing a big rally held at Vastrol on the outskirts of Ahmedabad to highlight what he calls "injustice against his government", Mr Modi said, "You (Congress), for the last three years, have used the Raj Bhavan to make a back-door entry to run a parallel government" in the state.
"This is a mega rally against the conspiracy hatched against my government", Modi said adding, the Governor has "lost the dignity of the post" and demanded her recall. "We have maintained silence since 2009 against the injustice by Governor's office, in order to maintain its dignity and grace," he said.
Lashing out at the Congress, Mr Modi said despite sustained efforts, the party had failed to come to power in the state."In 2004, just 24 hours after the UPA government came to power, Congress had said that Modi should pack up as Centre will invoke President's rule here. Since then they are conspiring to remove my government," Mr Modi alleged.
The Modi government and Governor Kamala Beniwal have been at loggerheads since the latter appointed Justice R A Mehta as Lokayukta, bypassing the state government. She has returned as many as five bills in the last three years passed by the state Assembly. The Modi government has challenged the decision in the High Court.
"The Congress has not been able to impress people of Gujarat for the last 20 years and they have remained out of power. So now they are trying to run a parallel government by using the Governor House," Mr Modi said, adding, "Can a state have two governments? What will happen if there are two governments in one state? Where will the people go?"
Responding to the Gujarat Chief Minister's scathing attacks, Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Modi doesn't want Lokayukta to come out with his misdeeds. That's why he is attacking constitutional functionaries."