Modi-rahul war of words over Ambani and Adani

BANASKANTHA/PATAN: The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were embroiled in a war of words over crony capitalism invoking top industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, a day before the 49-day long campaign for the Gujarat polls comes to an end.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi accused each other of promoting the rich, spreading canards and degrading the political discourse in seven rallies they addressed in north and central Gujarat, where voting for 93 assembly seats will be held on December 14.

Reacting for the first time to the Congress leader’s charge that the Modi government’s policies were oriented towards rich industrialists while ignoring the poor, the PM said: “I went with a begging bowl to every nook and corner of Gujarat asking people to send their girls to school. Was I asking about the education of daughters of the Ambanis? Was I asking about daughters of Adanis? I went from village to village in 45-degree heat to promote education of the girl child.”

On Gandhi’s repeated accusation, he accused the Congress leader of “spreading lies everywhere” and thinking others are “fools”.

Gandhi has been alleging throughout his campaign that the Modi model of development was all about taking away resources of the poor and farmers and handing them over to a handful of corporates including the Tatas and Adanis for a song.

He reiterated the allegation on Monday describing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government as a “suit-boot ki sarkar”.

Gandhi also asked the PM why he was silent on the meteoric rise in the turnover of BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah’s company and wondered why the PM was scared of the saffron party’s chief? He added that elections were being held in Gujarat and Modi was speaking about Japan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, without referring to the PM’S allegation of Pakistan’s interference in the state polls.

Modi hit back at Gandhi saying that those “born with a silver spoon” know about the pain of the poor. “Our footwear got worn out. We have walked barefoot under the sun. They (Gandhi) may not have been pricked even once by a thorn in the foot,” Modi said, while asking audience in Patan whether they remembered it.

Both leaders also claimed that they will be available for the cause of Gujarat at a short notice.