Pune: Taking potshots at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Kapil Sibal said on Sunday that internal bickering within the BJP would frustrate Modi`s bid for Prime Ministership.
About Modi`s aspiration to take central stage for the top job, Sibal said, addressing Congress workers, "Delhi is distant. Who will allow you to reach there? There are so many eying the post within that party, including the one who has been standing behind the chair for year," indirectly referring to senior BJP leader L K Advani.
Speaking at a Maharashtra Congress conclave at Balewadi, near here, Sibal alleged that Modi presents a misleading picture of Gujarat`s growth under his leadership, with wrong sets of figures, adding that in reality, the state`s population under the below poverty line (BPL) had increased in rural segments along with a rise in malnutrition.
"If Gujarat has made any progress, it is because of the people of Gujarat and not because of Modi", he said.
In a caustic attack on the BJP poster boy, Sibal said "Modi puts on a mask to hide his true face. If one goes near him, the real face is exposed".
He said only the Congress had a vision for 21st century India and the country could progress only on the path of secularism and not on the one represented by Narendra Modi.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan asked Congress workers to convey UPA government`s "achievements" to the people and prepare for the 2014 general elections.
PTI
