Modi a divisive figure full of himself: Sheila Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Senior ministers of the UPA government and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday jumped right into the middle of the Congress-BJP verbal face off over Congress veep Rahul Gandhi’s remarks to the Confederation of Indian Industries on Thursday.

After BJP president Rajnath Singh and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi made several cutting references to Gandhi’s speech at a rally in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Dikshit called Modi a ‘divisive figure full of himself’.

“He (Modi) is so difficult to judge because he is so full of himself. I do not think he represents the ethos of India. I think, we as Indians believe in the philosophy of live and let live. I do not think he represents that at all,” Dikshit said.

Modi had earlier criticised Gandhi’s portrayal of India as buzzing beehive, instead calling the country his ‘mother’. Dikshit criticised Modi’s growth model, saying it was ‘skewed as a large section of population are left out’.

She questioned the figures being projected by Modi and said some of them are ‘false’. She added that Modi was trying to distract attention from the 2002 riots in Gujarat with talk of governance and development.

Pointing fingers at India Inc’s admiration for Modi, she said, “today Gujarat should have been a booming state which is not. It is in the eighth position. You cannot polarise the country which is so diverse. How can you do it? Many of the figures that are talked about are false figures. Somehow, he (Modi) has this kind of dictatorial (nature) and nobody questions it,” Dikshit said.

Dikshit claimed there was no across the board opinion even in BJP that Modi will be the choice for the top post. “So by the time the picture is clear, it’s tough to tell,” she said. Dikshit’s attack was echoed by telecom minister Kapil Sibal who derided “some state leaders who appeared to be in a hurry to come to Delhi. My message to them is Dilli door ast (Delhi is still far)”.

I&B minister Manish Tewari tweeted his outrage: “Amusing — metaphors denoting energy, diligence, cohesion and focus, unity of purpose completely go over the heads of some self-appointed jingoists.”