BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Monday played the “son-of-the-soil” card and called upon the people of Gujarat to make history again by electing a prime minister from the state.
On the last day of campaigning in Gujarat, Modi carried out a whirlwind tour of the central and southern regions.
“Morarji Desai came from the state. But we couldn’t see Sardar Patel becoming the prime minister. Now don’t let go of this opportunity. I am the son of the soil and I will go to Delhi to take up your cause,” Modi said while addressing a rally in Kheralu.
He came down heavily on the Congress calling the party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi a “specimen”.
Few days ago, Rahul said that there are 27,000 crore job vacancies. “What is the population of Gujarat? 6 crore? What is the population of India? 125 crore. So isn’t it hilarious that he says there are 27,000 crore job vacancies? Wonder from where the Congress got this specimen,” Modi remarked.
He also said that both Rahul and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were “ignorant” about Gujarat.
“Rahul recently claimed in his speech that Gujarat doesn’t have a Lokayukta. But he should know that Gujarat does have a Lokayukta and its first report has been tabled in the Assembly in which former Congress chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary has been indicted in a scam. Rahulbhai, if you don't have that much knowledge, what will happen to India?” Modi said.
He accused Sonia of heaping injustice on Gujarat over the Narmada issue for “political gains”.
“Sonia claimed that people of Gujarat are deprived of drinking water. I want to tell you that during the Congress regime, water was sent to Saurashtra region through trains. Now, we have laid huge pipelines for that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Kapil Sibal again questioned the Modi government for being silent over the fake encounters.
“While innocent people were being killed no voice was raised, so what is the point when Modi talks of development and does not care for human value,” said Sibal.