 "Modi mocks Rahul on riot victims")
Referring to Gandhi as a ‘shahzada’ (prince), Modi said he had levelled “serious allegations against the youth in relief camps (of Muzaffarnagar) that they are hobnobbing with the ISI (Pak’s Inter-Services Intelligence). It is your (Gandhi’s) responsibility to make public the names of such youth...If you do not disclose the names, then you should apologise publicly for defaming an entire community.”
Perhaps for the first time, Modi referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Reacting to Gandhi’s comment that he had felt “angry” after his grandmother (former prime minister Indira Gandhi) had been killed, Modi said, “I ask Shahzada that all Congress leaders were also angry… Didn’t they then burn Sikhs in that anger? Not even one has been punished for their crimes.”
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In his speech, Modi was forthcoming in his attack on both the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He asked voters to ensure they were not voted to power. He said the SP stood for “family politics” and the BSP for “personality cult”.
He said if a BJP government was given only 60 months at the Centre, as compared to the Congress’ 60 years, they’d ensure it “changes the fortunes of the people and the destiny of the country”.
Modi criticised the Planning Commission and said the poverty line set by it reflected the “mental poverty” of the government.
Asking for support to the BJP, he said, “The BJP has chosen me, an ordinary man born into a poor family, someone who as a child sold tea on the railway platform…Look at the values of this party, that it chose me to be its prime ministerial candidate. But please don't make me PM. Make me a chowkidar (sentinel).”