Narendra Modi not a leader of stature, says Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress today hit out at BJP for its focus on Narendra Modi, saying it betrays a "leadership vacuum" in the main Opposition party as the Gujarat Chief Minister is "not a leader of stature".

"Modi is speaking in a very foul language. He is not a leader of stature. He does not have a political culture. Modi is a state Chief Minister. BJP is totally blank on leadership ...there is leadership vacuum in BJP. They have no other leader so they are banking on him," Union Minister V Narayanasamy told reporters outside Parliament.

At a BJP meet yesterday, which saw the Opposition party virtually stopping short of naming Modi as its next Prime Ministerial candidate, the Gujarat Chief Minister had launched an all-out attack against Congress saying it was destroying this country like "termites" for which the only medicine was sweat of the BJP worker.

He had also accused the Gandhi family of putting "interests" of its members above national interests and referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- without naming him -- as a "night watchman" keeping the seat warm for the "the family".

Dismissing the claims of development in Modi-ruled Gujarat, he reminded Modi that "In 2002 A B Vajpayee, who was then the Prime Minister, had a desire to dismiss the Gujarat government (led by Modi)" over post-Godhra riots.

At the BJP meet, Modi had showered lavish praise on Vajpayee.

The minister also took at a jibe at BJP, saying the party should change its slogan of "Masjid se Mandir Tak (from mosque to temple)" to "Mandir se Masjid girane tak (from temple to demolishing mosque)".