Is PM Modi campaigning for Congress in Gujarat? asks Arvind Kejriwal

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned BJP workers against the Congress' "silent" canvassing and strategy in poll-bound Gujarat, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday wondered if he was campaigning for the state's main opposition party. Addressing a rally at Vallabh Vidyanagar in the state, where assembly polls are due in the next few months, Modi stressed on the need to slightly modify the BJP's poll strategy to counter, what he termed, a "conspiracy"of the Congress.

"Is the prime minister campaigning for the Congress in Gujarat?" Kejriwal, who is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor, said in a tweet, reacting to Modi's remarks.




Modi also said that the Congress appears to have changed its strategy this time in Gujarat. "I need to warn you because it appears to me that this time the Congress has adopted a new strategy. I have not probed, but that is what appears to me at first glance," he said.

Modi said in the previous assembly elections, the Congress used to make a lot of noise and boast about "finishing" the BJP, which has been in power in the state for more than two decades.

"But we did not fall (get defeated) in 20 years, so they have done something new, which is why we need to remain alert," said Modi, who was chief minister of Gujarat for 13 years.

The prime minister said the Congress, once a dominant political force in Gujarat, is not saying anything openly, but working "silently" by going to villages and adopting its old "manipulative" tricks.

"Therefore, don't be confused because they are not appearing in the press, nor conducting any press conference or making speeches. Beware... the Congress is trying to infiltrate with a new strategy. It does not speak, but is reaching out to villages, holding meetings," Modi said.

He said BJP workers needed to remain alert and counter this new strategy of the main opposition party in Gujarat.

"Do not assess them on the basis of the fact that they have not conducted public meetings, press conferences, or made statements...There is a need for you to remain alert for the coming elections," the prime minister said.