Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP supporters wait for the senior party leaders to arrive for the opening of the election office of their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, seen on a billboard at left, in Varanasi, on April 1. (AP Photo)
Buxar, April 2 (IANS): BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Wednesday called for an end to dynastic politics, saying there was no place for it in Indian democracy. The Gujarat chief minister, who Wednesday addressed four rallies in Bihar and Jharkhand as part of his Bharat Vijay rally series, slammed the Congress-led government for not bringing back black money from foreign banks.
“The Congress is a party of mother and son, the Samajwadi Party is a father, son and daughter-in-law party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal is a husband and wife party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is a father and son party,” Modi said at a rally at Palamu in Jharkhand. “Dynastic politics has no importance in a democracy,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.
In mica-rich Kodarma in Jharkhand, he said the state’s resources were being looted. “People of Jharkhand are suffering because natural resources are being looted here.” Modi slammed the Congress-led central government for not knowing the grassroots-level realities while making plans.
“They make development plans in air conditioned rooms in Delhi, they have no connection with the people,” Modi said. “Election in Delhi is about capturing power, it’s a narrow view of democracy.” In Buxar in Bihar, Modi vowed to bring back black money stashed in foreign countries if the BJP-led alliance is voted to power.
“If the Bharatiya Janata Party government is formed in Delhi, I promise to bring back the black money and it will be used for welfare schemes for the poor,” he said. “Give us all 40 seats in Bihar as we want to form a government in Delhi with over 300 seats to take the right decisions.”
He also remembered the victims of serial blasts during his rally in Patna in October 2013 - in which five people were killed and over 80 injured - and slammed the administration for “sleeping” during the blasts. “The time for promises is gone. Now Bihar needs resolution,” Modi said.
Asking people to vote for the BJP, he said the Congress has not fulfilled any promises it had made in the 2009 polls. “The Congress manifesto is nothing but a dhokha-patra,” he said. In a bid to woo Yadav voters, Modi said he hails from Dwarka and hence it was natural for him to be emotionally attached with the Yadav community.
In his rally at Nawada, Bihar, Modi accused the Congress-led union government of promoting the destruction of the country’s livestock. Modi said the union government was slashing subsidies on agriculture to encourage meat export.
“Bihar is a land of people who worship cows but leaders like Lalu Prasad have joined hands with those who are promoting meat export. The green revolution has been sidelined and the government at the centre is destroying the country’s livestock in the name of the pink revolution,” he added.
Will revive ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ spirit
Ruing over the condition of farmers and soldiers in the country, Narendra Modi hit out at the Congress for ignoring their plight and said if elected, he would revive the spirit of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ slogan given by former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. “What is the condition of kisans (farmers) and jawans (soldiers) today?” the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate asked at an election rally here.
“The number of farmers committing suicide because of the faulty agriculture policy of the UPA is far more than soldiers killed in war and likewise number of jawans killed by terrorists are more than those dying in the battle ground,” Modi claimed. “While the widow of a beheaded soldier is sitting on dharna, the powers that be in Delhi are busy feeding biryani to the Pakistan President,” he alleged.
Stating that farmers were suffering both during good as well as bad harvests, Modi slammed the Centre for allegedly selling surplus foodgrains to liquor manufacturers instead of giving it to the poor as advised by the Supreme Court. Modi criticised his rival and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not allowing progressive farmers from the state to participate in an international farm convention in Gujarat.
“Rivalry is common in politics, but it should not take the shape of enemity,” he said in an apparent dig at Kumar. Seeking to establish connect with locals, he said in days to come his relations with them would deepen as he was contesting from the neighbouring Varanasi seat.
Disgruntled veteran BJP leader Lal Muni Choubey, who withdrew his candidature as Independent from Buxar seat on a request from Modi shared the dais with him along with candidate Ashwani Kumar Choubey and leader of Opposition in state Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav.
I will defeat Modi, never join BJP: Kejriwal
New Delhi, April 2 (IANS): AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday vowed to defeat BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi and denied speculation that he might join the BJP.
Addressing impromptu meetings in east Delhi in support of AAP candidate Rajmohan Gandhi, Kejriwal launched a vicious attack on both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
“If my aim was to reach parliament, then I would have fought the Lok Sabha election from a safe seat,” the former Delhi chief minister thundered from atop an open vehicle.
“I want to defeat Modi. That is why I am fighting election from Varanasi. It is also important to defeat (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi. That is why (AAP’s) Kumar Vishwas is contesting in Amethi. “Both Modi and Rahul (Gandhi) need to be defeated... They lead two parties that believe in corruption,” he said.
Kejriwal pointed out that while the BJP had fielded the tainted former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in Karnataka, the AAP had put up Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, in east Delhi.
“This is the difference between the BJP and AAP,” he said. It was the second straight day of campaigning in Delhi by Kejriwal for the Aam Aadmi Party, whose minority government collapsed Feb 14 after just 49 days.
He denied reports in a section of the media that he might end up joining the BJP. “I have never said that, and I will never join any of these parties,” Kejriwal asserted, as the AAP cavalcade wound its way through some of the more thickly populated areas of east Delhi.
Some 800 supporters accompanied him, some on foot and others on motorcycles. Whenever he stopped to make short speeches, hundreds gathered to hear him. Kejriwal recalled the attacks on him in Gujarat and Bhiwani in Haryana, and also how he was pelted with eggs when he went to Varanasi. “It is the BJP and Congress who are responsible for these incidents,” he said. “They want to crush us. But we will never bow to them. We will fight against corruption till our last breath.”
