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Becoming shriller by the day and marked by personal attacks from both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leaders, the 2014 election campaign took another turn for the worse on Saturday.
In separate public meetings, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice-President Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for telling "white lies".
On his part, Modi repeated his allegations first made last week that the income-tax department was in possession of recorded phone conversations between a confidant of Sonia Gandhi and one of India's biggest meat exporters. "According to the details that have come out, the confidant and the meat exporter have discussed money transactions," Modi claimed. He alleged the meat exporter's 300 hours of "tapped" phone conversations with some of India's "diggaj (influential)" people "occupying high offices" involved discussions on black money and hawala transfers to other countries.
At his 3D address on Saturday evening, Modi alleged the I-T department had recently raided 60 premises and that some "honest I-T officers are following up the case".
"These conversations are about black money and hawala transfers. The entire truth hasn't come out," Modi said, alleging "an individual close to 10, Janpath (the address of Sonia Gandhi), talks to this businessman."
On April 18, at his public rallies in Akbarpur and Kanpur, both in Uttar Pradesh, Modi had attributed the news on I-T raids to a television channel. The news report, Modi had said, disclosed a "big hawala racket" in which names of "four Union ministers" and "a person close to 10, Janpath", surfaced.
Modi, in his Saturday's broadcast, repeated the allegations but did not attribute the disclosure to any television channel. He appealed to his "friends" in the social media to spread the news and demanded the phone conversations be made public. "Madam (Sonia Gandhi), who is this confidant of yours on whom the I-T department has put a question mark," Modi asked.
Modi also repeated another of his allegations, first made earlier this month, that former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and his family members had bank accounts in Geneva. He said a complaint had been filed with the Election Commission against Singh, who is the Congress candidate from Amritsar, from where senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley is also contesting the general elections.
According to the complaint, Modi alleged, Singh failed to mention the bank accounts in his election affidavit. "The nation wants to know the truth about black money," Modi said, asking his "friends" in the social media to talk about these issues. Singh had earlier dismissed these allegations.
Modi accused both "mother and son" - Sonia Gandhi and Rahul - of mouthing lies in their election speeches. "You are breaking boundaries of civility. What you have been uttering are nothing but obnoxious lies… be in your limits," Modi said, asking Rahul to "not run away" when the time for answers came.
Modi, also the Gujarat chief minister, pointed out a recent order of his state's high court on a public interest suit questioning the 'Gujarat model', which he claimed was filed by Rahul Gandhi's cronies. Modi claimed the court order dismissed the petition. "It found after due research that the Gujarat model was all embracing. Nobody has been favoured or discriminated against."
The 63-year-old BJP leader, who was addressing his second 3D meeting being telecast at 125 places across India, expressed his "serious concern" that hundreds of thousands in Mumbai couldn't exercise their franchise on Friday. "I hope the poll panel will take steps so ensure this is not repeated in the coming phases," Modi said, claiming the 2014 polls presented a "tsunami of hope".
Modi said his visit to Varanasi and being in the "lap of Mother Ganga" was a spiritual experience that "these other people in politics cannot appreciate". He said the Varanasi incident, where thousands thronged his roadshow, was giving his opponents sleepless nights. "It was one of the most important events of my life," Modi said.
