Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi came down heavily on the Congress-led UPA government, saying that it was trying to suppress people’s voices, like it happened during the Emergency.
Modi, addressing a mammoth rally in Bangalore on Sunday, said the Centre is surviving on the crutches of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Modi accused the Congress of hatching conspiracies against him as it was unable to stomach his growing popularity. The Congress is trying to suppress the voices which are lending him support, and also gagging comments on social networks, he alleged.
Modi dubbed the rally, held at the Palace Grounds under the banner of Bharatha Gellisi (make India victorious), the biggest “saffron surge” he has witnessed. The party had laid out around two lakh chairs, and almost all were occupied.
The rain gods, too, seemed to oblige the party, as the showers stayed away, contrary to weather bureau predictions.
Modi, who informally launched the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the State capital, did not deliver any impressive one-liners, as he usually does at public meetings. He did not attack any individual by name. But his speech was customised to suit Bangalore and youths who had turned up in large numbers. He did not give his detractors the opportunity to bill his speech as rhetoric. Of course, his fans expected a more fiery speech.
The Gujarat chief minister, listing incidents to buttress his argument that the UPA has no faith in democracy and is muzzling free expression, said anyone talking in his favour was being suppressed, including Lata Mangeshkar. Even investment banking firm Goldman Sachs was not spared for saying that the “weather was changing” in his favour, he added.
A veiled threat had been issued to the electronic media for telecasting his speech on Independence Day instead of the prime minister’s, he said, adding that the Congress even wanted a ban on opinion polls.
Modi said the UPA government was not running with the help of majority but with the help of the CBI. “Every time the UPA faces a crisis of support, it digs up files against leaders of other parties and secures their support,” he alleged. Modi said he was a “small chief minister”, but still the Congress is trying to suppress his voice in many ways.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s comment that “power is poison”, he took a dig at the Congress leader saying he (Rahul) wants power to be confined to only his family, and is not ready to empower his countrymen.
Youth power
In his hour-long speech from 12:45 pm, Modi also dwelt at length on the “power” of the youth and kept the crowd constantly involved by asking them questions that required “yes” or “no” answers. “The UPA perceives youth as voters, but we see them as power,” he said.
Modi pointed out that 65 per cent of the country’s population is under 35, and the nation has the potential to emerge as a world leader in the 21st century by tapping this demographic.
However, instead of prioritising skill development and utilising the youth potential, the government is providing incentives to set up abattoirs to slaughter the country’s cattle.
“The Centre gave primacy to Pink Revolution after it came to power. That means it encouraged only export of meat. Had the same incentives been given to the youth of Bangalore, our software exports would have surged and simultaneously cattle could have been saved.
“In Karnataka, too, the new government withdrew the anti-cow-slaughter bill as soon as it came to power,” he said.
Modi said the growth in the country’s software exports, which stood at 40 per cent during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime, plummeted to 30 per cent and 9 per cent respectively under the two UPA regimes.
He also asked the crowd: “Has the Centre given job to you? Has it given you daily wages?” The crowd replied, “No, No...”