From Red Fort in Chhattisgarh, Modi attacks PM, Rahul Gandhi

Narendra Modi addressed a rally in election-bound Chhattisgarh on Saturday from a stage modelled on Delhi’s Red Fort. Chhatisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and BJP president Rajnath Singh were also present at the rally in Ambikapur, 250 km from the state capital Raipur.

‘There is a Singh in Chhattisgarh, there is a Singh in Delhi. Both are doctors. But the doctor in Chhattisgarh is a people’s doctor while the one in Delhi is only a doctor of money,’ the Gujarat chief minister said, referring to Raman Singh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

‘The Congress can turn gold into sand,’ Modi said in his scathing critique, adding, ‘The party’s culture of arrogance is at its peak now. India’s over 1.25 billion people are fighting with acute poverty and inflation while its leaders are busy with giving new definitions of poverty. The failure of Manmohan Singh has led to such a situation that the rupee has landed in hospital where it is battling for life.’  

In his 25-minute speech, the Gujarat chief minister made a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi. ‘People are battling with acute poverty and inflation while the Congress leaders are making a joke of the people’s plight as they have lost ‘connect’ with people and their problems.  Some of its leaders say that even Rs 5 is enough for getting stomach-full food in a day while one leader  made the biggest joke of people’s plight and termed poverty a state of mind,’ he said without naming Gandhi.   

Referring to Gandhi, Modi said a leader, on whom Congress is banking for the future, has said poverty is nothing but a state of mind. In an apparent reference to Indira Gandhi, Modi said ‘garibi hatao’ (remove poverty) was the slogan of the grandmother of this leader.

Modi also targeted the Centre saying that when the poor are suffering, the Planning Commission headed by Prime Minister has said Rs 32 in cities and Rs 27 in villages is enough to live.

Modi said he is pained that people in important positions in Delhi are unaware of conditions in which the poor live.

He claimed BJP-ruled states performed better in implementing schemes meant to alleviate poverty.

The symbolism of Modi’s speech was hard to miss. It is from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi that Prime Ministers address the nation on Independence Day.

‘They have created a fake Red Fort in Chhattisgarh. They might also create a fake RCR (PM’s residence in Delhi) to fulfill their aspirations,’ senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said on Saturday.