Ajmer: BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi yesterday blamed the Congress for rising food prices and said the situation would have been different if it had pursued a development agenda.
Speaking three days before Rajasthan votes to elect a new 200-seat assembly, Modi targeted both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi — the latter not by name.
“You are a mother, Madam Soniaji, please say something on inflation,” Modi said, addressing an election rally in Ajmer, 150km from Jaipur. Modi spoke for over 30 minutes and spent much of his time criticising the Congress, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, addressing him derisively as “Shehzada”. Modi’s rally attracted 8,000-10,000 people at the Patel Stadium in the heart of Ajmer. Most people were from rural areas. Supporters waved BJP flags and hailed Modi when he made fun of the Congress — which rules Rajasthan — and the Gandhis.
Modi said it was necessary to recognise the true nature of the Congress party. He said the Congress was “scared” that it could be reduced to irrelevance if people voted as one, overcoming social and religious barriers.
Modi alleged that the “Shehzada”, who he said was considered the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress, didn’t trust Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, a veteran Congress politician. “He came to Gopalgarh where communal violence took place and Gehlotji had no knowledge about it. “When Rahul Gandhi doesn’t trust your chief minister, how can you? The Rajasthan governor, who has been a Congress member, has also been critical of the state government,” Modi said. Gopalgarh in Bharatpur district witnessed communal riots which left 10 people dead in September 2011. IANS
