Modi lashes out at Congress for targeting his mother

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday tore into the Congress saying it had targeted his mother as it had no guts to challenge him politically.

"When one does not have issues, when one is ill-cultured, arrogance is on seventh heaven only then one does dare to curse a mother. Those who ruled us for long after independence, important leaders of that party are cursing Modi’s mother instead of fighting Modi,” the prime minister said addressing a packed rally at the Baburam Stadium here.

“They dragged my mother into the muck. She does not even know the ‘P’ of politics and is busy with her prayers and worship,” he said referring to Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar’s remarks comparing the prime minister’s mother’s age with that of the falling rupee.

The stadium, with a capacity of 30,000, in the heart of Chhatarpur, was full to the brim and broke into cries of ‘Modi, Modi’ the moment the prime minister made his entry on the stage.

He launched a sharp attack on the Congress accusing it of being a party of royals and running a government “remote-controlled” by “madam”, a reference to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

“The people of India are our high command. We are committed to serve them and fulfil all their aspirations. This is not a remote-controlled government run by “madam”. This government is run by its people, its youth. I serve the youth of this country, people of this country,” Modi.

Modi then turned his guns at former chief minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and asked people to recall his reign. “Do you want your children to be deprived of basic necessities such as power and water.

"You have seen development in Madhya Pradesh. This was not ushered in by a ‘raja’ or ‘maharaj’ but by Shivraj,” Modi said.

The ‘raja’ and ’maharaja’ reference was to Digvijaya and chief ministerial aspirant Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Taking exception to Scindia’s references to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as "Kansa mama" and "Shakuni mama", Modi hit out at the Congress asking it to recall the days of "Quattrocchi mama" and "Anderson mama".

"You are worried about youth fondly calling Shivraj mama. Instead of calling him names why don’t you remember Quattrochhi ‘mama’ and Anderson ‘mama’. You sent ‘Anderson mama’, responsible for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, to America by a special plane,” Modi said.

Modi claimed that earlier Congress governments kept delaying irrigation projects in the parched Bundelkhand and asked the people to recall the “dark days” during Digvijaya’s rule when people faced water shortage.

He urged voters to reject the “negative politics” of the Congress and asked them to ensure that the party does not come to power in the state.

Voting in the state, where the BJP has been in power for three terms, will take place on November 28. The prime minister said while his party grows excited as the election date inches closer, those in the Congress camp are worried about losing their deposits.