Against the backdrop of a growing chorus for making him the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today lashed out at the "commission-seeking" Congress-led UPA government which is destroying the nation like a termite and dubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "night watchman" for the Gandhi family.
Modi was scheduled to speak on good governance in Gujarat, but he used the forum at the BJP conclave here to lambast the UPA government and the Congress in his one-hour speech.
"Congress is destroying this country like termites. It is very difficult to deal with termites - you finish them in one place and they rise in another. The only medicine for this ailment is sweat of the BJP worker. Only this sweat can free this nation from the termite that is the Congress," Modi said in his speech, amid applause from the gathering.
In what sounded virtually like an election speech, Modi said the time has come to throw out the Congress and bring in a government that is sensitive towards the sufferings of the people.
Attacking the Congress for scams like the VVIP helicopter deal and 2G spectrum, Modi said, "The time has come to draw a comparison between the Congress and the BJP. While BJP is for a mission, Congress is for commission. The contest will be between mission and commission."
Modi also alleged that the Congress tradition has been to sacrifice the nation's interest for the sake of one family.
Without naming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said the Congress appointed a "night watchman" to keep the seat warm for the first family of the Congress.
"They did not realise that the night will be so long and dark. As a buffer, they appointed an economist to the post," he said.
Modi's address stood out in sharp contrast to that of his Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh counterparts Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh. While the two chief ministers stuck to highlighting achievements of their governments, Modi dwelled on national issues.
The Talkatora Indoor Stadium was jam-packed when Modi delivered his speech.
