New Delhi:
Hours after a scathing attack by Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Congress hit back saying Mr Modi was mistaken if he thought that he could attain the stature of a national leader.
"The kind of language that Narendra Modi ji used today does not behove any leader of national stature. I think he is yet not capable of attaining the stature of a national leader. By spending crores belonging to Gujarat for self-propaganda, if someone thinks that he has become a national leader, then he is mistaken," Union Minister Rajiv Shukla said.
Mr Shukla accused Mr Modi of double-speak and took exception to his remarks against the Prime Minister.
"His speech is a bundle of lies. Today he is expressing liking for Pranab Mukherjee. If you had courage and conviction, than why did Modi ji not support Pranab Mukherjee (in the Presidential elections)? NDA partners Nitish Kumar and Shiv Sena had done so. Yesterday Pranab Mukherjee was not likeable, then you were praising Sangma. This is double-speak," Mr Shukla added.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said, "Modi called us termite, he is a scorpion and a snake."
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had reminded the Gujarat Chief Minister about 'Raj Dharma' in the wake of the 2002 riots in the state. "AMNESIA Is it not true that Vajpayee ji reminded a certain CM about Raj Dharma in 02? What did Vajpayee attribute their 2004 defeat to?" Mr Tewari tweeted. Following the defeat of NDA in 2004 polls, Vajpayee had blamed that violence in Gujarat as one of the reasons that led to the electoral loss.
Earlier, speaking on the last day of the BJP's National Council meeting in New Delhi, Mr Modi lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government saying it is destroying the nation like a termite and dubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "night watchman" for the Gandhi family.
"Sacrificing the national interest for the interest of one family is the tradition of the Congress," said the saffron strongman as he went straight for the Congress' jugular. "They appointed a night watchman by naming Manmohan Singh as prime minister...the prime minister is nothing but a puppet of the Gandhi family," the chief minister said, as a 2000-strong gathering wildly cheered him. (
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"Had Pranab Mukherjee been prime minister, there would have been less destruction in the country...Had Pranab been successful, what would have happened to the family?" Mr Modi said, in more barbs directed at the Congress.
Virtually setting the agenda for the BJP ahead of General Elections 2014, Mr Modi also exhorted partymen to be battle-ready, but sought to play down the issue of who the party's prime ministerial candidate would be.
"Who is the person, or who is the candidate, it does not matter in the BJP," Mr Modi said to thunderous applause from the 2,000-strong gathering. The comment is significant in the last few days that have seen a renewed clamour in the BJP for projecting the Gujarat Chief Minister as the party's face for 2014. The sentiment was on full display on Saturday - Day 2 of the ongoing BJP conclave - when party president Rajnath Singh heaped fulsome praise on Mr Modi, referring to him as a "popular chief minister", even as senior party leaders and other members gave the latter a standing ovation.