Raking up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots at his election campaign rally here, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday launched a frontal attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, and asked the 'Shahzada' (prince) of the ruling party if he was infuriated when Sikhs were attacked, murdered and burnt alive in protest over his grandmother Indira Gandhi's assassination.
"Shahzada said he was angry when his grandmother was killed. I want to ask the Shahzada and all his party members, if he and all his party members felt the same anger when thousands of Sikhs were burnt during the riots, and till today, not one has been brought to justice," Modi said.
Modi furthered his attack on the Congress number two by questioning the basis on which Rahul Gandhi accessed key intelligence information with regard to the claim he made that Muslim youth victims in Muzaffarnagar were being approached by Pakistani intelligence agents.
"Shahzada the Government is yours, what is the ISI doing in UP? How are they roaming around freely in UP? What is the Government doing? Who is this Shahzada? He is only an MP. How does he have access to intelligence officers, why are they briefing him when he has taken an oath of secrecy?" Modi asked.
"If can't give names of those young persons whom the ISI is trying to contact, then he must seek forgiveness," he added.
Urging the people to vote for the BJP, Modi said that his party would change the face of the country if given 60 months of service at the Centre in a way that the Congress' 60 years of power could not imagine.
"I haven't come here to cry, or share my pain. I have not come here to wipe your tears. I have come here to show you hope," Modi said.
"Today I have come to assure you on the basis of my experience as an administrator, you have given the Congress 60 years, try us for 60 months. ... From half a roti, they've come to a full roti in 60 years. To feed you well, they will take another hundred years. Do you want to wait?," he added while referring to the old Congress slogan of 'aadhi roti khayenge, phir bhi school jayenge' (we will have half a roti, but will still go to school).
Claiming that poverty had become a 'joke' for the Congress-led UPA government, Modi said that when he is made Prime Minister, he will be a gatekeeper of the country, and assured the people he would protect India's treasure.
"Don't make me a Prime Minister, make me a chowkidaar (gatekeeper). I will sit in Delhi as a chowkidaar (gatekeeper). I won't allow anyone to plunder India's treasure," he said.
BJP President Rajnath Singh and senior party member Uma Bharti were also present at the rally.
