Sunday, March 3, 2013

Can't tolerate bad governance at Centre; BJP is with mission, Cong for commission: Modi

(HT)


Urging BJP workers to oust the ruling Congress in the 2014 general elections, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed the central government for not keeping the nation's interest in mind.
Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) two-day national council meet which started in Delhi on Sunday, Modi launched a direct attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, saying it kept its own interests above the nation.
"The country is sinking. The poor are under the burden of price rise. We cannot even feel if there is a government at the centre or not," Modi, possible contender for the prime ministerial post, said.

"The Congress has ruled the country for several decades. At that time there was no opposition, the media was not so strong and there were not so many activists. But what did the Congress do? At that time many countries were trying to rise. India lagged behind. Why? Because they (Congress) never wanted the country to develop," Modi said.

Without naming any one, he launched a direct attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, vis-a-vis Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi: "Sacrificing the national interest for the interest of one family is the tradition of the Congress," he said.

"They appointed a night watchman by naming Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Had Pranab Mukherjee been prime minister, there would have been less destruction in the country," Modi said.

"Had Pranab been successful, what would have happened to the family?" Modi said.

"Freeing the nation from the Congress rule would be an act of patriotism. It would be a task as great as that our freedom fighters did," Modi said.

He stressed on the need of inculcating hope and aspirations in people, saying that a BJP-led government at the centre would act as a facilitator for those aspirations.

Praising the BJP and focussing on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi said that the BJP was the only alternative for the Congress "misrule".

"The Congress has spread like termites in the country. It is very difficult to get rid of termites. Only one medicine will work, that of the sweat of the BJP worker," Modi said.

Modi, who is being projected by some in BJP as its Prime Ministerial face for 2014 elections, on Sunday asked his party cadres to work hard to present an alternative to the UPA government.

Against the backdrop of the demands for his projection as the party's PM candidate, Modi sought to play down the issue.

"Who is the person, or who is the candidate, it does not matter in the BJP," Modi said in his speech.

"People of the country have decided to dislodge (the present dispensation)...We have to see how much we can contribute towards that. Believe me, Congress cannot escape under any cirumstances. For the country, we will have to present an alternative," Modi said.

Modi said that BJP governments were working for the development of the states while accusing Congress of having no intention to develop the country.

He also attacked Congress on the issue of corruption and alleged that commissions were paid whether it was the case of helicopter purchase or spectrum allocation. Comparing the performance of both the parties, he said it appears that "BJP is with a mission and Congress is for commission."

Modi also alleged Congress was not promoting the development of a strong leadership.

He said that inflation had hit the common people but the government at the Centre was "unresponsive". Those sitting in Delhi should look at what the BJP governments in states like Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were doing to ensure development and welfare of the people, he said.

Rahul gets bad press over Mumbai trip

(IndiaBlooms)




Mumbai, Mar 3 (IBNS): The one day trip to visit workers in Mumbai after securing the post of AICC's Vice President didn't work out well for Rahul Gandhi, who instead landed up earning a lot of bad publicity in the press and social media.
From his entry in rush hour disrupting traffic to the expenditure on posters in the drought hit state, the visit was a bad PR in press for the Gandhi scion.

While the state is badly hit by drought making it difficult to survive for around lakhs of people, the Congress leaders had reportedly spent around Rs.6 lakhs on 950 banners as a tribute to their new Vice President, said media reports.

This lavish spending on welcoming Gandhi has earned him a lot of controversies in the media.

"Sadly, neither he nor any of his fawning admirers perhaps took into account the fact that the funds poured into creating, printing and fixing these banners could comfortably have provided five lakh drought-stricken families in the state with water," Mid Day reported.

"This amount would have fetched one crore litres of water - in other words 1,000 tankers, which translate to 20 litres of water for each of five lakh families. This, after Congress leaders made all the right noises about not putting up advertisements and channeling the funds to drought-affected villages," the newspaper reported.

"Around 850 small hoardings with dimensions 6 ft x 3 ft, and 100 medium-sized hoardings with dimensions 12 ft x 8 ft defaced the city. Not a single pole along the entire route from the international airport to Kalanagar was spared from the eyesores, each sporting an unsightly banner. Posters were even plastered to dividers on the highway, and the shrubs used to beautify the roads," the reports added.

The Gandhi scion was also slammed for arriving at the city in the rush hour and putting the traffic standstill as he proceeded towards the party's state headquarters Tilak Bhawan in central Mumbai along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre and AICC in-charge Mohan Prakash.

"His VIP convoy blocked traffic during morning rush hour-a daily nightmare and necessary pain for many Mumbai commuters," reported Indiatimes.

The Gandhi scion was not even spared by Mumbaikars who took it to social networking site Twitter to express their opinion.

Social commentator Suhel Seth tweeted:"Has this country lost it??? Roads from the airport Bombay closed owing to Rahul Gandhi's arrival so what's that crap about 'aam aadmi'??"


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