Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Setting the stage for a likely national role in the BJP, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Congress, terming it a termite even as party leaders emphasised unity, discipline and clean image for success in the upcoming elections.
Addressing Bhartiya Janata Party’s national conclave in the national capital, Modi made a scathing attack on the Congress party saying that it worked only for the benefit of one family.
Modi started his address on an emotional note saying that he had no words to explain what he felt when BJP president Rajnath Singh felicitated him yesterday.
Modi, the clamour for whom is growing in the party to be named as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said that Gujarat’s victory was not one person’s victory but the victory of the whole party. “It is the victory of BJP’s thought process and ideology. It is the victory of the people of Gujarat. It is also the victory of the guidance provided by our senior leaders,” he said.
Taking on the UPA government he said, “The government at the Centre has doomed the country. One wonders if at all there is a government at the Centre. The Congress party does not have it in their blood to take the take the country forward.”
“Soon after India got independence, the Congress had all the opportunities to take the country forward. But it was not to be. All other countries, including China, went ahead of us,” he added.
Modi accused the Congress party of working only for the benefit of one family. ‘How prudent is it to sacrifice the interest of the country for the sake of one family?” he asked.
"The Congress has spread like termites in the country. It is very difficult to get rid of termites. Only one medicine will work, that of the sweat of the BJP worker," Modi said.
In a scathing attack on the Gandhi family Modi said that the family had made sure that no leader was allowed to go ahead in the party lest they became a threat to the family itself.
“Dynastic politics did not allow Pranab Mukherjee to become the PM. If Pranabda had become PM then the situation would not have been what it is today,” he said adding, “The Congress gave the country a night watchman by making Manmohan Singh the PM."
Modi attacked the Congress on all fronts whether it was price rise or inflation or corruption. “BJP is for a mission, Congress is for commission,” he said in a statement dripping with sarcasm.
The Gujarat Chief Minister also criticised the National Advisory Council, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, as one which is filled with people belonging to the "five- star" culture and having "total disconnect" with the people.
Emphasising on the need to uproot the Congress from Centre Modi said, “My experience tells me that the people of this country have decided to end the misrule of the Congress.”
Exhorting party workers to give their all for 2014 elections, Gujarat CM said, “If there is one force which can remove the Congress from power, then it is the BJP party workers. It is in their blood and sweat to make this happen.”
"People of the country have decided to uproot the Congress... Getting rid of Congress is a patriotic job, the same work that was done to get freedom. The way swaraj (self-governance) came, su-raj (good governance) will also come," Modi asserted.
Eulogizing the work done in all the states which is ruled by the BJP, Modi said that whether it was Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh, the developmental work undertaken in these states was a model for others to follow.
“BJP is synonymous with good governance,” Modi said highlighting the good work carried out in his state Gujarat giving the example of twenty-four electricity supply. “India has been forced to talk about the developmental model of Gujarat.”
Invoking the ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ cry given by former PM of India Lal Bahdur Shastri, Modi said that this one slogan had changed the face of agriculture and the fortune of farmers in the country.
He was also all praise for BJP’s first PM in the country Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Modi said that Vajpayee was an example of what one man could do. “Atalji was the only real PM that India had,” he said. “The two nuclear tests carried out by us showed India’s resolve despite economic sanctions,” he added.
Narendra Modi ended on poetic note saying, “I accept that we are faced with darkness ahead but who is stopping us from a lighting a lamp.”
Modi, favoured as a prime ministerial candidate by many in the BJP, hogged the limelight at the national council meeting even as president Rajnath Singh asked the party ranks to be prepared for early Lok Sabha polls.
The national executive has authorised Rajnath Singh to reconstitute the parliamentary board, clearing the way for induction of Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in BJP's highest decision-making body, said party sources.
Senior leader LK Advani, too, lauded Modi but also showered praise on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He also praised party leader Sushma Swaraj's speech, virtually comparing her oratorical skills to that of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
First Published: Sunday, March 03, 2013, 08:13