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Narendra Modi on Saturday fired a fresh salvo at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, saying the country cannot be run by “remote control” and the mother-son duo will have to pay a “price” for running the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from behind the scene.
"If you want to save the country, you have to first save yourself from the mother-son duo," he told a poll rally at Kakoijan in Assam's Baongaigaon district. "The country cannot be run on remote control by the mother-son duo," he said. Modi said the electorate in 232 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, where voting has already been completed, has voted against the UPA government.
"It is now the responsibility of the voters to ensure that BJP wins 300 seats so that a strong and stable government can be formed at the Centre," he said. The BJP prime Ministerial candidate appealed to youths to think "very carefully" before voting. "If you take a wrong decision regarding your vote, you may lose the next five years which will affect the future course of your life. Give me a chance and I will change your life.”
"The Congress has failed to give employment to youths as promised in their manifestos in the past. It has broken its promise to you and now it is your turn to break ties with it. First, you have to save yourself from those who have ruined you and then help in saving the country," he added.
Taking potshots at Sonia and Rahul over the claims made in a book by the Prime Minister's former aide, he said, "It is clear (in the book) who was the actual PM. What Manmohan Singh says does not matter. Both mother and son have to pay a price for this," he said.
"The book 'The Accidental Prime Minister' by Sanjaya Baru has brought to fore what we (BJP) have been saying for so long — that mother and son were the primary decision makers and Manmohan Singh was just a facade," he said.
Hitting out the UPA government at the Centre and the 13-year-old Congress government in the state, Modi said the first has been ruined by "ma-beta ke sarkar" and Assam by "baap-beta ka sarkar". "...if you want to save Assam, you have to save it from the father-son duo of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his son Gaurav," he told the rally held in support of BJP's Barpeta candidate Chandra Mohan Patowary.
Modi said the Congress leadership had failed the tribals though it had ruled the country for nearly 60 years.
“It was the NDA government of Atal Bhari Vajpayee which set up a separate ministry for tribal development with a separate budget while the North East along with Sikkim, which we consider our 'Asthalakshmi' (eight Hindu goddesses) got a separate Ministry called the Doner," he claimed. Charging the Congress with indulging in 'vote-bank politics', he said it was due to it that Bangladeshis are given importance in Assam while Hindu Bengalis, who had to flee that country following atrocities are 'neglected'.
"Why are Hindu Bengalis from Bangladesh not given the right to be Indians? Why are they still D(doubtful) voters in the country and are forced to stay in camps. Is this not injustice?"
Referring to BJP's stand on the issue, Modi said, "We do not hide our policies. We do not believe in vote-bank politics where our own are tortured and foreigners are welcomed with open arms. They (Hindu Bengali immigrants) must be given their due respect so that they can be proud Indians."
He criticised Gogoi for allegedly failing to provide basic amenities to the people and employment opportunities to the youth. In Assam, he said, 55 per cent women were illiterate, 98 per cent houses do not have taps or water in them despite the fact that the state has overflowing rivers and gets high rainfall, 75 per cent houses do not have electricity and many women do not have proper toilet facilities.
"Instead of chanting Kamakhya Devi's name, the Assam Chief Minister begins and ends his day chanting my name. In a way, I am happy. However, I would have been happier if he had thought more about Assam." He said Congress was not concerned about the welfare of the people of Assam and it was time for them to snap ties with it.
Modi claimed that the electorate in the 232 seats where voting has already been completed has voted against the UPA government.
"It is now the responsibility of the voters to ensure that BJP wins 300 seats so that a strong and stable government can be formed at the Centre," he said. He hit out at the Congress leadership saying it must be made clear the country cannot be run by "remote control" by the "mother-son duo" of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Urging people to vote for BJP, he said, "If a car falls into a very deep ditch, it needs the help of several people to push or pull it out. Congress has pushed the country into a very deep chasm. We need your support to pull it out from the depths of despair."
He appealed the youths in the age-group of 18-28 years to think "very carefully" and not only from election point of view. "If you take a wrong decision regarding your vote, you may lose the next five years which will affect the future course of your life. Give me a chance and I will change your life. "The Congress has failed to give employment to youths as promised in their manifestos in the past. It has broken its promise to you and now it is your turn to break ties with it. First you have to save yourself from those who have ruined you and then help in saving the country," he added.
