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Taking a swipe at the Gandhi family, Narendra Modi on Saturday said the mother and son had never gone through the pangs of penury and asked the people of Uttarakhand to overthrow the "government of plunderers" who had looted the people and stashed their money abroad.
He said the government of the "mother and son" (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) had destroyed the country and the "saddest part" is that they were "not affected or worried by this. They think people will forget everything."
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Modi also attacked Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and said the "home minister" of the "mother and son" says that people forget everything (corruption and inflation) like the "way they forgot the Bofors (scam)".
"If you want back the country's looted money stashed abroad, you will have to first remove the government of plunderers in New Delhi," he told an impressive election meeting held here in support of party candidate from Pauri Lok Sabha seat and former chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri.
He said the mother-son government at the Centre could not feel the pain of the poor because they were born rich with a golden spoon in their mouth and never went through the pangs of penury.
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Again describing himself as a "humble chaiwala" who has seen it all moving from one railway compartment to another to offer people tea, Modi said this time the poll battle was between the mother-son duo on the one side and a chaiwala on the other. "Namdars on the one hand and a kamdar on the other," he said, targeting Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
The Gujarat Chief Minister said the country had given 60 years to administrators but now it was time it gave 60 months to a servant and a chowkidar (watchman). "...I can assure you, I am a chowkidar who would never let anyone lay a hand on the country's coffers," he said.
Seeking to strike an emotional chord with the people of the state, Modi said he shared a special bonding with the people of Uttarakhand, as he was a in-charge of the party's affairs in the state many years ago. However, he regretted not being allowed to do anything for the people of the state when calamity struck in June last year.
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"I got restless when I heard of the tragedy and wanted desperately to do something for the victims. I came running but due to perverted politics, I was not allowed to do anything. I shall always regret it," he said. Terming the Uttarakhand government as the "worst example of failure in the face of crisis", he said the "mother-son" government of New Delhi will also have to share the responsibility for this "failure". He said the Congress at the Centre had promised to give jobs to 10 crore youths in ten year's time but gave jobs to just one crore of them, whereas the Vajpayee government gave jobs to 6.5 crore youths in a tenure lasting just six years.
Asking people to turn up in large numbers at the polling booths to cast their vote, Modi said if they wanted a stable government in New Delhi under his leadership they would had to ensure the victory of all the five BJP nominees from Uttarakhand.
"It is the Himalayas.Weather changes quickly here. But you have to venture out to cast your ballot, regardless of whether it is raining or getting cold," he said.
