Narendra Modi addresses 'Maha-Garjana' rally in Mumbai
, attacked his Congress rival Rahul Gandhi today, saying the Congress leader was making 'innocent' speeches against corruption at an event in Delhi yesterday even after his government in Maharashtra rejected the multi-million Adarsh scam report.
"I was listening to a top Congress leader speaking against corruption. Look at his audacity. They are so deep in corruption and still, he presents himself with an innocent face. On the one hand, they reject the Adarsh report and on the other, they lecture on freeing India of corruption," the 63-year-old leader said. (
Highlights)
The Gujarat Chief Minister addressed a mammoth 'Maha-Garjana' rally attended by nearly 8 lakh people at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex, his first since being appointed the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
Mr Modi began his hour-long address today by attacking the Congress and holding the party responsible for corruption in governance and the high inflation.
"Congress is all about minorityism. That's their culture. In 90 districts across India where Muslims are in majority, PM announced packages. When asked in Parliament about the expenses in those districts in the past 3 years, they said not a penny HAS been spent. This is their vote-bank politics," Mr Modi said.
On the massive stage, the Gujarat Chief Minister was flanked by BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior leaders Nitin Gadkari and Gopinath Munde.
The BJP pulled out all stops to make the rally a huge success. The party had booked 21 long-distance trains to ensure smooth travel for its supporters to Mumbai.
As a special gesture, Mumbai's tea vendors were invited to the rally. The fact that he himself used to be a tea vendor once has often been flaunted by Mr Modi at various rallies to blunt the opposition's taunts over it.
Staff from around 140 consulates in Mumbai were also invited. Present in the VIP area were consul generals and staffers from Australia, Canada, Russia, Nicaragua, Kenya and other countries. However, in view of the strong sentiments in the Devyani Khboragade case, the invitation to the US Consulate officials was cancelled at the last minute.