Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said the moment the Congress Party puts an end to their practice of dynastic politics, he would stop addressing their Vice President Rahul Gandhi as 'shehzada' (prince), and alleged that the Centre's ruling party was immersed in politics of opportunism.
"Stop practicing dynastic politics and I will stop using the word Shehzada. ... Dynasty politics and opportunism are enemies of democracy," Modi said at Gandhi Maidan today.
"It is unfortunate that opportunism is the practice of both the Bihar Government and the Central Government. ...The BJP wants to bring unity across lines of religion, caste and creed. ... Our religion is India first," he added.
Continuing his attack on the Congress Party, Modi once again accused them of being unaware of the realities of hunger and poverty, and raked up the issue of the Planning Commission's redefinition of the poverty line to criticize Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
" The Planning Commission, whose head is the Prime Minister, now says that if every home has a daily income of Rs. 26, then you are not poor. Do you agree with this?" Modi asked the crowd, who combined their voices and responded with a loud "no".
"Is it a joke or not? They do not know what poverty is. They do not know what hunger is, my friends. They have never seen poverty. They have never seen hunger, my friends. I have been born in poverty. I have seen poverty very closely in my own experience. I have lived through poverty," Modi added while recounting his success story from his days as a tea-seller on railway platforms to become the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.
While trying to woo voters in Patna, Modi also reminded the crowd that the UPA had failed to live up to its promise of removing inflation within 100 days of coming into power in previous polls.
"The economy has failed to improve like they (Congress) promised. They promised to remove inflation in 100 days, which has did not happened. It's been almost 10 years, under their rule and you tell me if inflation has come down. Tell me if inflation has gone up? Is it time to send them packing or no?" Modi asked the crowd who responded with a "yes".
Earlier at the rally, Narendra Modi, who was speaking for the first time in Bihar since the Janata Dal (United) walked out of the NDA, said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has not betrayed the saffron outfit, but the people of his own state.
"JD(U) has not betrayed BJP, but has betrayed you-the people of Bihar," Modi said at Gandhi Maidan.
"Chelas (disciples) have told Nitish Kumar to go with the Congress as there was an opportunity for him to become Prime Minister there," Modi said.
Modi continued on the bitter JD(U) walkout, and alleged that till the party worked with the BJP, it was only the saffron outfit's ministers who contributed good work.
BJP President Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and party leaders Shahnawaz Hussain, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Shatrughan Sinha and Sushil Kumar Modi were present at the rally in Gandhi Maidan.
Prior to Modi's arrival at the venue, at least six low intensity blasts were reported in and around Gandhi Maidan.
