Congress knows it has lost, has given up fight, says Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi at an election meeting in Nadiad on Monday. (Photo: Reuters) Narendra Modi at an election meeting in Nadiad on Monday. (Photo: Reuters)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Opposition Congress leaders have given up campaigning for the second phase of the Assembly elections in Gujarat since “they very well know that they have lost in the first phase of voting”, and therfore have now resorted to the allegations of EVM tampering.
A total of 89 seats had voted in the first phase that took place on December 9 in Saurashtra-Kutch and south Gujarat regions. Campaigning for the BJP in Patan in north Gujarat, Modi said, “As the old saying goes ‘nachvu nahi pan angnu vanku (a bad workman always blames his tools)’, the Congress knows very well that they have lost in the first phase of election. So, all its senior leaders have lost their sleep and are hunting for ways on whom to blame and how to save (Congress president-elect) Rahul Gandhi’s respect and name. So, they have now started saying excuses.
Their leaders are blaming EVMs, saying they are hacked using Bluetooth (technology). Within one hour of voting, they started doing this EVM thing. One even said that a Bluetooth is connected to the EVM. This is a basic knowledge that there is no Internet connection, so how does this lone poor EVM shows Bluetooth. The fact is that the Congress is stuck in the Blue Whale (game), where you will get to see the last episode of the game on (December) 18 (the counting day),” Modi said, referring to the Congress complaint to the Election Commission on December 9 in which it had alleged that a Bluetooth device was active inside a polling booth in Porbandar.
Bluetooth technology, however, doesn’t depend on Internet, as claimed by the PM. It is a low-power wireless connectivity technology used to stream audio, transfer data and broadcast information between devices.
At Nadiad, Modi continued his affront to his predecessor Manmohan Singh, and alleged that under the Congress rule, the Centre had diverted Gujarat’s “rightful” claim to electricity to Maharashtra, just ahead of the 2007 Assembly elections “so that Modi loses”.
“When I became chief minister in 2001, there was no electricity. Gujarat was struggling (to meet its power demand)… In 2007 when there were elections in Gujarat and Gujarat had rightful claim to electricty… this Manmohan Singh’s government gave the electricty to Maharashtra, so that there is darkness in Gujarat and Modi loses the election,” he said.
With Rahul constantly accusing Modi of helping big industrialists like Ambanis, Adanis and Tatas, the PM hit back. “During peak summer, I used to go to villages of Gujarat and sought promise from parents to educate their girls. Whose children were they? Were they Ambani’s children? Tata’s? No. They were children of the poor. When we went to farmers for Krishi Mahotsav, we did not go out to help the rich. We went to the poor. Sadly, Congress leaders, born with golden spoons in their mouths, will never understand what poverty is, how does it feel to walk barefeet in summer.”
Accusing the Congress of lying, Modi said, “Shun gappa maaro chho (What lies you speak?) …You (Rahul Gandhi) come to this land, not once, twice or five times, and right from morning your cassette plays,” said Modi.
Crediting himself for providing “peace and security” in Gujarat, he said, “Since Narendra Modi took charge here, hasn’t the word curfew disappeared from Gujarat? Isn’t there an atmosphere of peace and harmony? At the bottom of this development is the path of peace and harmony, and now we are working for peace in Kashmir.”
Taking potshots at Rahul for his “potato” remark, Modi said: “Our farmers work hard and grow potato in fields. If at all the Congress comes to power, there will be no need to do that because their leader says we will produce potatoes in factories. The basic knowledge of the Congress about agriculture is very poor… Do you think Gujarat’s people are fools? This shows that Congress has disrespected Gujarat.”
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