Give your blueprint for Gujarat: Modi to Rahul
Political temperature in Gujarat is set to rise several notches with chief minister Narendra Modi daring Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to take charge of his party’s campaign for the assembly polls.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Political temperature in Gujarat is set to rise several notches with chief minister Narendra Modi daring Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to take charge of his party’s campaign for the assembly polls, and come out with his blueprint for the state’s development.
“Let Gujarat be a training ground for him and let him use all his skills to convince the people of Gujarat about his politics,” Mr Modi said while responding to the Congress’ plans of fielding the party’s heir apparent to steer its campaign in the run-up to the December assembly polls. “In this election,” Mr Modi said in an interview to a news channel, “people have already set the agenda, not any political party.”
His decision to throw the ball in the Congress’ court is certain to get its leadership in a tizzy. Any move to keep Mr Gandhi away from the poll campaign will be widely perceived as a victory of sorts for the CM, and is likely to deflate the ordinary Congressman’s morale in the state. Mr Modi, who has come under a fresh round of attack from the Left-liberal classes in the wake of fresh disclosures about the Sangh Parivar’s role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, remained nonchalant as he dismissed the opposition as a “passion” of a few. “Let them do it (attack), but I am focused on development of the state,” he told the news channel.
Mr Modi opted to talk about his pet themes of development and security - issues which have helped reinforce his image as a leader who is focused on his government’s track-record and strong on internal security plank.
While his detractors continue to harp on his alleged failure to contain the post-Godhra riots, Mr Modi is busy highlighting his government’s report-card on various issues, including his achievements in the fields of economic development, farmers’ interests, education, women’s welfare, tribal development and in building a security cover around Gujarat.
Living up to his image as a strong and aggressive leader who stands rooted to his party’s nationalist mooring, Mr Modi said he is not averse to anybody’s love for minorities, but is certainly against “minorityism” in politics.“This is the precise reason why I took umbrage at the prime minister’s statement in which he declared minority’s first claim over resources,” the chief minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the channel here on Tuesday. The PM, he maintained, later realised his mistake implicitly after he had raised the issue.
“Let Gujarat be a training ground for him and let him use all his skills to convince the people of Gujarat about his politics,” Mr Modi said while responding to the Congress’ plans of fielding the party’s heir apparent to steer its campaign in the run-up to the December assembly polls. “In this election,” Mr Modi said in an interview to a news channel, “people have already set the agenda, not any political party.”
His decision to throw the ball in the Congress’ court is certain to get its leadership in a tizzy. Any move to keep Mr Gandhi away from the poll campaign will be widely perceived as a victory of sorts for the CM, and is likely to deflate the ordinary Congressman’s morale in the state. Mr Modi, who has come under a fresh round of attack from the Left-liberal classes in the wake of fresh disclosures about the Sangh Parivar’s role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, remained nonchalant as he dismissed the opposition as a “passion” of a few. “Let them do it (attack), but I am focused on development of the state,” he told the news channel.
Mr Modi opted to talk about his pet themes of development and security - issues which have helped reinforce his image as a leader who is focused on his government’s track-record and strong on internal security plank.
While his detractors continue to harp on his alleged failure to contain the post-Godhra riots, Mr Modi is busy highlighting his government’s report-card on various issues, including his achievements in the fields of economic development, farmers’ interests, education, women’s welfare, tribal development and in building a security cover around Gujarat.
Living up to his image as a strong and aggressive leader who stands rooted to his party’s nationalist mooring, Mr Modi said he is not averse to anybody’s love for minorities, but is certainly against “minorityism” in politics.“This is the precise reason why I took umbrage at the prime minister’s statement in which he declared minority’s first claim over resources,” the chief minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the channel here on Tuesday. The PM, he maintained, later realised his mistake implicitly after he had raised the issue.
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