Rahul Gandhi’s quip of toffee model of development in Gujarat seems to have hit a raw nerve. In a significant departure from his earlier speeches, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has started personally attacking members of the Gandhi parivaar in speech after speech.
“Heard about 2G, now hearing about jijaG”, was the latest one liner salvo fired by Narendra Modi to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s son in law Robert Vadra. At a rally in Chhattisgarh, Modi reiterated about RSVP (Rahul, Sonia, Vadra, Priyanka) model alluding to Vadra’s alleged huge increase in wealth over last few years.
Modi gave a twist to Congress’s slogan saying it should be “Har haath loot har bol jooth” (Loot with every hand, lie with every word). He took a jibe at the recent press conference done by PM’s media advisor Pankaj Pachauri . Modi said that for the first time a press conference was done only to announce that PM has given 1100 speech in 5 years. He attacked Sonia for saying that she has handed over Rahul to the nation. Modi is of the opinion that how can Rahul manage the country, when Amethi is in such bad shape.
Meanwhile, in Amethi today Arvind Kejriwal was heckled by a group of women protesters. They were chanting name of Rahul Gandhi and showed black flag to AAP leader. He was called an escapist (bhagoda) and asked to go back. Kejriwal was in the Gandhi bastion to do a road show for AAP candidate Kumar Vishwas. There were earlier some stories about rift between Kejriwal and Vishwas. AAP chief tried to allay that notion by the united show of strength.
Rahul Gandhi though has no time for the likes of Kumar Vishwas. He is busy crisscrossing the country trying to stall Narendra Modi’s entry to 7 Race Course Road. Sharpening his attack on Gujarat CM Rahul said that Modi would have ousted Atal Bihari Vajpayee too if the former PM was still active in public life. He gave example of the likes of Lal Krishna Advani and Jaswant Singh who Rahul claims have been completely sidelined. He said that Narendra Modi only wants to be the chowkidaar (watchdog) of Adani and other businessmen, but not of the common people. Sonia Gandhi meanwhile cancelled his Maharasthra rallies on account of poor health.
Is Modi a media creation or a visionary? Answers will vary but according to Congress leader Abhisek Manu Singhvi, Modi is an acronym!! Yes apparently MODI stands for Man Of Damage to India going by Singhvi’s definition. He had one for BJP too. It is Bharat Jalao Party. Manu Singhvi with his instant wit looks all ready to join Twitter!!
Nothing witty about Beni Prasad Verma though who out rightly called Modi a murderer.
Giriraj Singh who made the bizarre comment saying Modi critics have no place in India and should go to Pakistan continues to stick to his words. BJP President Rajnath Singh has expressed displeasure over such comments; the Bihar unit of BJP has also disassociated themselves. But Giriraj seems to be on a different planet altogether.
He said that several countries across the globe including Pakistan are trying their best to stop Narendra Modi from becoming Prime Minister. His words should be taken in that context argued BJP candidate from Nanded. He said that since Pakistan is opposing Modi, it is the best place for Modi baiters!! Based on complaints received a FIR has been lodged against the leader for making such hostile comments.
Lal Krishna Advani in one of his election rallies today praised Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Raman Singh, Shivraj Chauhan- in short virtually everybody except Modi. He didn’t utter the name of his party’s Prime Ministerial candidate even once. Seems like some wounds take great time to heal. He was though all statesmen like in his suggestions to Election Commission.
The veteran politician believes people who don’t cast their votes should be punished. He made a case for introduction of compulsory voting in the country and said those failing to exercise their right to franchise should be barred from voting in future. He said that Gujarat is the only state which has passed the Bill on compulsory voting in local body elections, though it cannot be implemented since it was not signed by the Gujarat Governor.
The fight for getting “secular votes” is getting more intense by the day. Now Samajwadi party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has demanded for muslim reservations. He went so far as to say that constitution will be amended to provide reservation for muslims once SP comes to power. In Mayanpuri,UP, Mulayam’s bitter rival Mayawati accused him of misuse of power. Playing the backward card, ex UP Chief Minister said that only her party fights with the aid of common people whereas other parties have corporate backing.
Did Narendra Modi back LJP leaders meeting with Hurriyat hardliner Geelani? This is a question which is likely to revolve in political circle in the next few days. LJP (part of NDA) leader Sanjay Sharaf today confirmed that he had met Geelani but rejected the charge that he was doing on Modi’s behest. He deemed the meeting as personal. Earlier Geelani claimed that Modi had sent emissaries to conduct back channel talks for resolving the Kashmir issue.
The Saradha scam is bringing fresh embarrassment for the TMC government in Bengal. Now one of its candidates, Arpita Ghosh contesting from Balurghat has been summoned by ED for questioning. Only yesterday, Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee traded charges against each other regarding this chit fund scam.
BJP’s muslim face Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has raked up the issue of Ram Mandir. He said that a solution should be found quickly within the constitutional parameters. BJP in their official manifesto has considerably downplayed the issue which used to be a major stirring pot back in the 90’s.
These were the major news points of the day. Come back tomorrow for more…..
Related Information:
Amethi Election Result
Chhattisgarh Election Result
West Bengal Election Results
Uttar Pradesh Election Result
General Election Results
