Probe my poll expenses, Modi dares Congress
Facing accusations from the Congress of “spending profusely” on his publicity campaign, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has offered to open his account books for scrutiny by any government agency.
The Gujarat chief minister also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for spreading “lies” that the state offered farm land to industrial houses for free and justified his decision not to wear a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric during an event in 2011.
Modi’s offer to the Congress to probe his spending comes against the backdrop of union minister Anand Sharma’s allegation that nearly ` 10,000 crore has been spent on the BJP’s Modi-centric media blitzkrieg.
“Anand Sharma and Sonia Gandhi may use the entire government machinery to have a probe conducted at a time of their convenience and method of their choice. If the model code of conduct is a problem, I am willing to write to the EC (Election Commission) to allow the government, if it is willing, probe my account book during the election,” Modi said in the Aap Ki Adalat programme of India TV.
I RESPECT EVERY TRADITION BUT I HAVE TO ACCEPT MY OWN. SO I CANNOT BELIEVE IN HOODWINKING PEOPLE BY GETTING PHOTOGRAPHED WITH A SKULL CAP. NARENDRA MODI, BJP’s PM nominee
Having once triggered a row by declining to wear a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric during his Sadbhavna campaign in September 2011, Modi justified it, saying if a cap alone had been a symbol of unity why didn’t Mahatma Gandhi wear any.
“An abnormality has crept into Indian politics where people do anything for appeasement... I respect every tradition but I have to accept my own. I live by my own tradition. So I cannot believe in hoodwinking people by getting photographed with a skull cap,” Modi said.
With the BJP manifesto promising modernisation of madrassas and a fair deal to the Muslims, Modi said his idea about people with skull caps is that they have “the Quran in one hand and a laptop in the other”.