Sweet talk: I have trophies in mind, not toffees, says Modi
BJP leader bites back at Rahul’s criticism of Gujarat model .
A ‘3D hologram’ image of Narendra Modi is pictured during a live telecast in Mumbai. PHOTO: AFP
NEW DELHI:
The Indian election may well be remembered for all the candidates talk of ‘toffees’ – even as there is nothing sweet about their discourse.
On Monday, Congress leader dubbed the Gujarat model – frontrunner Narendra Modi’s economic blueprint for the state during his tenure as chief minister – the ‘toffee model’. Under Modi, he said, the Gujarat government had given away 45,000 acres of land for Rs300 crore. “This is the toffee model, not the Gujarat model. For Rs1 you get toffee here. Land was sold at Rs1 per meter… it was the land of the poor and the farmers,” Gandhi said.
Speaking at an election rally in Maharashtra’s Latur town, Gandhi alleged that the sale is the clearest indication of rampant cronyism within the Gujarat government, saying the land was sold at a pittance in the hope of future favours from industrialists. In an election rally last month, Gandhi took a dig at the BJP, saying, “They had made a balloon of ‘India Shining’ in 2004 and 2009. They have filled a balloon with gas (of Gujarat’s development model), which will be blown again.”
The BJP leader took the bait. Such an important election about the country’s future but for ten days, a word that gripped (Gandhi) was ‘balloon’. For ten days he kept repeating it. However, children don’t stick to a toy for too long and now he has caught the word ‘toffee’,” Modi said at a rally in Hazaribagh in the state of Jharkhand. “I am not of an age where I can play with balloons,” he added. With reference to his beginnings as a tea vendor on trains, Modi said, “I had trophies in mind, not toffee. If Rahul gets a toffee his day is made. But in my childhood I never even knew what a toffee is. I sold tea to make ends meet.”
Speaking at the second round of ‘3D rallies’, the BJP leader reiterated the ‘over 300 models of the Gujarat government have won trophies from the United Nations and the Indian government’. Modi is scheduled to address 100 rallies in 15 states and is utilizing 3D holographic projection technology in an attempt to reach out to as many potential voters as possible.
The first of these 3D rallies took place on April 11, in more than 100 places simultaneously. The same technology was first used during the 2012 Gujarat Assembly election campaign. The BJP has organised 10-12 rounds of these ‘Bharat Vijay 3D rallies’ in addition to the 185 Bharat Vijay rallies that Modi plans to address.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2014.
The Indian election may well be remembered for all the candidates talk of ‘toffees’ – even as there is nothing sweet about their discourse.
On Monday, Congress leader dubbed the Gujarat model – frontrunner Narendra Modi’s economic blueprint for the state during his tenure as chief minister – the ‘toffee model’. Under Modi, he said, the Gujarat government had given away 45,000 acres of land for Rs300 crore. “This is the toffee model, not the Gujarat model. For Rs1 you get toffee here. Land was sold at Rs1 per meter… it was the land of the poor and the farmers,” Gandhi said.
Speaking at an election rally in Maharashtra’s Latur town, Gandhi alleged that the sale is the clearest indication of rampant cronyism within the Gujarat government, saying the land was sold at a pittance in the hope of future favours from industrialists. In an election rally last month, Gandhi took a dig at the BJP, saying, “They had made a balloon of ‘India Shining’ in 2004 and 2009. They have filled a balloon with gas (of Gujarat’s development model), which will be blown again.”
The BJP leader took the bait. Such an important election about the country’s future but for ten days, a word that gripped (Gandhi) was ‘balloon’. For ten days he kept repeating it. However, children don’t stick to a toy for too long and now he has caught the word ‘toffee’,” Modi said at a rally in Hazaribagh in the state of Jharkhand. “I am not of an age where I can play with balloons,” he added. With reference to his beginnings as a tea vendor on trains, Modi said, “I had trophies in mind, not toffee. If Rahul gets a toffee his day is made. But in my childhood I never even knew what a toffee is. I sold tea to make ends meet.”
Speaking at the second round of ‘3D rallies’, the BJP leader reiterated the ‘over 300 models of the Gujarat government have won trophies from the United Nations and the Indian government’. Modi is scheduled to address 100 rallies in 15 states and is utilizing 3D holographic projection technology in an attempt to reach out to as many potential voters as possible.
The first of these 3D rallies took place on April 11, in more than 100 places simultaneously. The same technology was first used during the 2012 Gujarat Assembly election campaign. The BJP has organised 10-12 rounds of these ‘Bharat Vijay 3D rallies’ in addition to the 185 Bharat Vijay rallies that Modi plans to address.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2014.