Hitting out: Modi has declared himself PM before results, says Sonia
Blames BJP leader for corruption, children’s death and maladministration in Gujarat
Indian National Congress (INC) President Sonia Gandhi. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE
A day after Bharatiya Janata Party’s presidential candidate Narendra Modi landed himself in trouble with the Election Commission of India for poll code violation, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi lashed out at him, saying the BJP leader had already assumed himself to be the next prime minister.
In a scathing attack on the BJP prime ministerial candidate, at rallies in Balrampur and Faizabad, she said Modi is so intoxicated in his lust for power that he believes the results of the elections are out and he has been made the premier.
“Modi is hungry for power. And that is why he thinks even before the results are out, he is occupying the throne. Modi has forgotten that it is the people who decide as to who will form government,” The Times of India quoted Sonia as saying.
Dismissing BJP’s anti-corruption claims, Sonia said that several ministers in Gujarat were involved in scams.
“Modi claims he will get rid of corrupt parliamentarians once he comes to power, I want to ask how many corrupt and criminal ministers has he removed from his own Gujarat cabinet?” she asked.
“The Gujarat model is being sold across the country, but the reality is that children are dying of malnutrition during his ten years in power there and lands owned by farmers are being sold at throwaway prices,” she alleged.
Gandhi also accused BJP of indulging in divisive politics and claimed that her party never sought power on the basis of religion and worked for the development of all sections.
Modi is a deeply polarised figure due to his Hindu nationalist rhetoric and failure to curb deadly 2002 anti-Muslim riots that swept Gujarat during his early years as chief minister of the western state.
Police opened an investigation against Hindu nationalist Modi on Wednesday after he flashed his party’s symbol and made a speech after casting his vote in a violation of election rules. It is unusual for Indian politicians to give speeches after voting and Modi’s opponents complained to the election commission that his use of the party symbol broke the rules.
Election rules say politicians must not make public rallies or use media to “display to the public any election matter” within 48 hours of an election. Gujarat police chief PC Thakur said a preliminary case was launched against Modi at the request of the election commission.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 2nd, 2014.