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Pitching himself firmly as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate even before being formally anointed, Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on national security and challenged him to a public debate on governance, saying the nation is "restless for change".
He also slammed the Prime Minister for India's "weak and feeble" response to provocations from Pakistan and China and attacked him over a variety of issues, ranging from corruption to the Centre's flagship food security bill. Modi, who had on Wednesday said the nation would compare his speech with the Prime Minister's on Independence day, repeatedly referred to President Pranab Mukherjee's address to the nation on Wednesday evening to flag concerns about national security.
"The President says patience has limits. What is the limit, where is the border line? It has to be decided by the government in Delhi. How long will we be patient?
"The question is not of Pakistan alone. Today, national security is under threat. The Chinese intrude into our land and we keep mum. When Italian soldiers come and kill our fishermen, when Pakistanis behead our soldiers, we get concerned," Modi said in his Independence Day address at a college in Bhuj. Modi, BJP's election campaign committee chief, deplored that the Prime Minister's Independence Day speech did not have a tough message for Pakistan.
"I know the constraints of the Prime Minister due to imperatives of international relations, the need for having good relations with neighbours. Lal Quila is not a place to challenge Pakistan but it is definitely a place from where the morale of the Indian Army can be raised," he said.
In his extempore speech in Hindi, Modi rebutted Singh on several issues and said the "nation is restless for change".
"I had expected the Prime Minister to do something that would boost the confidence of our jawans, to give our army the strength, but regrettably that did not happen. I share the concern voiced by Rashtrapatiji in his address to the nation," Modi said. Mukherjee had voiced his concern over the killing of five Indian soldiers on August 6 by the Pakistan Army along the Line of Control in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The President had also warned Pakistan that "patience has limits" and that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure internal security and protect territorial integrity.
Taking forward his political battle, Modi dared the Prime Minister to a public debate on governance and development. "You are ruling a big country, we are managing a small state. I challenge the Prime Minister to a debate on the issue of development and good governance. A contest between the government sitting in Delhi and Gujarat," he said. Targeting the PM repeatedly for his speech at the Red Fort, Modi said, "I am wondering that despite your name being included among those who have unfurled the tri-colour on maximum occasions, you are saying the same things which were said by Pandit Nehru in his first address to our nation.
"The same problems and concerns are highlighted by you today which were mentioned by Nehru in his first speech. The question arises, what did you do for the past 60 years?" he asked.
"Mr Prime Minister, you have referred to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao while talking about the prevailing economic conditions of the country. But I want to ask you who is responsible for the way our rupee is getting devalued, the way it is heading towards crisis," he said.
"Suppose we don't immediately fix the responsibility but at least you could have told the nation how you will strengthen the rupee, what economic steps would be taken. Instead, you blamed it on global recession and said India cannot be left untouched by it," Modi said.
Referring to concerns raised by Mukherjee on corruption, Modi said, "The President of India has expressed his deep concern over corruption, he expressed his pain over it yesterday in his speech. It would had been better if something was spoken on corruption from the Red Fort as well... Prime ministerji, it is your first duty to respect the feelings and concerns of Rashtrapatiji but this did not happen today," he said.
"Why can't we launch a war against corruption and attack the roots of corruption. Doesn't the country need an answer?" he asked.
"Will the countrymen not seek a reply to it? I don't want to talk in political language, but I want to say that corruption is the core issue before the nation... Its our country's pain, its agony," he said.
"Nepotism used to be the core of corruption in olden days' TV serials... With the passage of time it has changed, a new TV serial of mama and bhanja came in corruption and now its moving towards a serial of saas, bahu and damaad," he said.
"Our country is getting destroyed by corruption and those ruling the country, their families are neck deep into it (corruption). Until the Supreme Court raps them, they continue to remain mum and continue managing it," Modi alleged apparently targeting the Gandhi family.
Therefore, the President's speech calls for introspection from everyone and this concern should come from the top, he said.
President Mukherjee had yesterday said, "Corruption has become a major challenge. The precious resources of the nation are being wasted through indolence and indifference. It is sapping the dynamism of our society. We need to correct this regression."
Modi also raised issues of disruption of Parliament by the ruling party in his almost an hour long speech.
"If the Opposition party tries to raise its voice it is understood in a democracy, but the concern is that for the first time in the country the ruling party is not letting the Lok Sabha function and is putting obstacles in its functioning," he said.
