PM, Rahul Gandhi, Hardik trade barbs in Gujarat battle

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Gujarat turned into a battleground Wednesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Patidar leader Hardik Patel stepped up their campaign for the first leg of voting in the high-stakes poll-going state. While the Prime Minister accused the Congress of being “feudal” and its vice-president of “propagating a grand stupid thought” (GST) in the name of GST, Mr Gandhi stuck to his anti-demonetisation and GST stance to woo voters and sought to make the state’s ruling BJP accountable for its promises in the last polls. Hardik Patel, on the other hand, continued to breathe fire against the BJP.

Continuing his attack on the Congress and its vice-chief for calling GST “Gabbar Singh Tax”, the Prime Minister said those who had looted the country could only think of dacoits. He also took a jibe to counter Mr Gandhi’s remark when he called the Congress leader a “new economist” who was propagating a “grand stupid thought (GST)” in the name of GST, telling people that they will slash all tax rates and make it 18 per cent.

In a dig at Mr Gandhi over his visit to the Somnath Temple, Mr Modi said “our first PM (Jawaharlal Nehru) was not happy with the idea of a temple being built there”, and added: “If there was no Sardar Patel, the temple in Somnath would never have been possible. Today some people are remembering Somanth, I have to ask them — have you forgotten your history? Your family members, our first PM, was not happy with the idea of a temple being built there... When Dr Rajendra Prasad was to come to inaugurate the Somnath Temple, Pandit Nehru expressed his displeasure... Sardar Patel dreamt about the Narmada, but your family did not let that dream to be fulfilled.” Mr Modi addressed four rallies at Morbi, Prachi, Palitana and Navsari.

Stepping up his offensive against the PM, Mr Gandhi sought to make the state’s ruling BJP accountable for its promises in the last election and also brought up the BJP’s record over its 22-year rule in Gujarat, and said that people were demanding answers. “22 saalon ka hisaab, Gujarat mange jawaab (Gujarat demands answers for 22 years of BJP rule),” Mr Gandhi tweeted.

Later, addressing a rally at Visavadar in Junagadh, Mr Gandhi referred to the 2015 quota agitation in which 14 members of the Patidar community were killed in police firing, and said if anyone raises his voice he either gets beaten up or has to face bullets in Gujarat. Visavdar is a Patidar-dominated constituency in the politically crucial Saurashtra region. He also raked up the Rafale deal and sought to know if due procedures were followed before formalising the deal with France last year for procuring the fighter jets. He also alleged that the Centre delayed Parliament’s Winter Session to avoid giving answers on that issue and also over allegations against BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah. Mr Gandhi also criticised the Narendra Modi government on the issues of farmers and unemployment in BJP-ruled Gujarat.

Hardik Patel interacted mainly with farmers and locals in Morbi, where he attacked the BJP for being insensitive towards the woes of farmers and small traders. Blaming the Congress for taking credit for minor schemes in the state, like providing hand pumps, Mr Modi said BJP rule had brought in major works like the Narmada project.

Bringing late PM Indira Gandhi into the campaign, Mr Modi recalled the Macchu dam flood tragedy of 1979 in Morbi and said: “I remember Indira Gandhi had come here and Chitralekha (a local language magazine) had printed her photo with a handkerchief over her nose, trying to avoid the stench, while another photo on the same front page had RSS workers carrying dead bodies.”

Mr Modi also said that the “Congress loves asking me — Modiji, what did you do? I want to tell them (that) due to our efforts the corrupt are languishing in jail. They could also have done that, but for them fighting corruption is not an issue.” The PM also mentioned the Amarnath terror attack to hit out at the UPA government.

“Recently tourists from Navsari were attacked by terrorists — many people were killed at the Amarnath Yatra... When (former PM) Manmohan Singh was ruling, such an incident had also taken place. We have killed all the terrorists within three months of the incident,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Modi also raised the issue of the bill on constitutional status for the OBC Commission to target the Congress, who he accused of stalling the legislation.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, Mr Modi said: “We have the legacy of Fakir Gandhi — the great Mahatma. They have the legacy of royalty. They were born with all privileges, and are disconnected with the roots.”