Kapil Sibal gestures after an interview with Reuters at his office in New Delhi October 15, 2013.
New Delhi:
The Narendra Modi "bubble will burst" predicts senior Congress leader and union law minster Kapil Sibal, who has also accused the BJP's prime ministerial candidate of creating a hype around himself by "manipulating the system in Gujarat" and "bombarding cyber space with misinformation."
In an interview to Reuters, Mr Sibal said, "Normally the law of nature is such that one who rises falls, and one who rises quickly falls as quickly. I don't know how the law of nature will work as far as Modi is concerned. But some time or the other all bubbles burst . This bubble will also burst."
He accused Mr Modi of making tall claims on development in Gujarat, saying, "I have asked the people...what the Gujarat model is...You can't sell a product which you don't have."
Mr Modi's primary pitch for the PM's post is that he will replicate what his party calls the Gujarat model of growth and good governance in the country. Mr Sibal alleged that Gujarat in fact lags behind many other states on the social index.
"If you employ an army, have money, bombard cyberspace with misinformation, innocent people tend to buy it. The system has been manipulated in Gujarat by the Chief Minister," he said. (Watch: 2014 - the online election)
The minister said he saw Mr Modi not as a threat to the Congress, but just as yet another contender, and refused to comment on his cabinet colleague P Chidambaram's interview to Reuters last week when he conceded that the Gujarat Chief Minister had "gained some traction among the urban youth", while also managing to unite "the rank and file of BJP". (Watch)
Mr Chidambaram's grudging admission had come with disclaimers. He too had dismissed the attention garnered by Mr Modi as "hype" and had alleged that the Gujarat chief minister's claims on growth during the BJP-led NDA regime were a "fake encounter of facts".
In an interview to Reuters, Mr Sibal said, "Normally the law of nature is such that one who rises falls, and one who rises quickly falls as quickly. I don't know how the law of nature will work as far as Modi is concerned. But some time or the other all bubbles burst . This bubble will also burst."
He accused Mr Modi of making tall claims on development in Gujarat, saying, "I have asked the people...what the Gujarat model is...You can't sell a product which you don't have."
Mr Modi's primary pitch for the PM's post is that he will replicate what his party calls the Gujarat model of growth and good governance in the country. Mr Sibal alleged that Gujarat in fact lags behind many other states on the social index.
"If you employ an army, have money, bombard cyberspace with misinformation, innocent people tend to buy it. The system has been manipulated in Gujarat by the Chief Minister," he said. (Watch: 2014 - the online election)
The minister said he saw Mr Modi not as a threat to the Congress, but just as yet another contender, and refused to comment on his cabinet colleague P Chidambaram's interview to Reuters last week when he conceded that the Gujarat Chief Minister had "gained some traction among the urban youth", while also managing to unite "the rank and file of BJP". (Watch)
Mr Chidambaram's grudging admission had come with disclaimers. He too had dismissed the attention garnered by Mr Modi as "hype" and had alleged that the Gujarat chief minister's claims on growth during the BJP-led NDA regime were a "fake encounter of facts".
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