Modi storms Rahul's Amethi, says it's battle for prestige

 In a carefully crafted political strategy to defeat Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in his bastion, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi not only broke an “unwritten code” – not campaigning in an adversary’s constituency – but also upped the ante by making the electoral battle in Amethi a “prestige issue.”

Modi stormed Amethi barely an hour before the end of campaigning on Monday, giving no time to the Gandhis to launch a counter attack.

“Meri izzat aapke haath mein hai....sawal chunav mein jeet ka nahin hai...sawal ek gharib maa ke bete ki izzat ka hai (My prestige is in your hands....the question is not of a victory at the polls but of the prestige of the son of a poor mother),” Modi said while addressing an election rally at Gauriganj in Amethi.

In a speech that lasted about an hour, Modi focused completely on the Gandhis and termed Amethi as the “worst” district in the country, while expressing confidence that the poll results would prove the political pundits wrong.

“The polling so far has proved that the government of maa-beta (Sonia-Rahul) is gone. The Congress cannot be saved even by those who have come out of jails,” Modi added.
Divulging the strategy behind fielding TV actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani from Amethi, Modi said he decided to field her after seeing her performance in a Gujarat district with the objective of “transforming” the region.

“I will change Amethi in the next 60 months to such an extent that it will be taken up as a case study by the foreign universities,” he said, adding that Smriti, whom he referred to as his sister, was his “choice”.

He said that Amethi would be the “starting point” of his developmental works as the prime minister. Modi rued that there were no separate toilets for girls in primary schools in Amethi and alleged that the Gandhis had “cheated” Amethi in the last 40 years.
Attack on Sonia

Modi also hit out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the latter’s remark on his statement “ye dil mangey more”. “In a democracy, the people are god and I am perfectly right in seeking something from them,” he said.

In a sarcastic tone, Modi said that Sonia must be a worried mother as her efforts to “settle” her son turned futile.

“I can fully understand her agony and pain,” he added. Apprehending rigging in Amethi, the Gujarat chief minister said that it was the responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polling.

Modi also sought to corner Sonia and Rahul on their charge that he (Modi) indulged in “gusse ki rajniti” (politics of anger) and referred to the examples of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister T Anjaiah, former Congress chief Sita Ram Kesri and former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and claimed that they had been humiliated by the Gandhis.