Accusing Narendra Modi of being "desperate" to become Prime Minister, Congress today said it will remain a "pipe-dream" and the "divisive" leader's nomination will help the UPA to return to power for a third term.
The party leaders even suggested that the BJP had committed "political suicide" by nominating Modi as the PM candidate after leaders like Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani were rejected by people of the country.
Criticising Modi for his "I, me, myself" style of functioning, Congress leaders also reminded that unlike the Gujarat Chief Minister, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi takes everybody along and delegates responsibilities while not offending any section.
Terming Modi's ambition as a pipe-dream, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said, "...That shows that he is delusional, he is desperate.
"I can say that with certainty that he will always be speaking from the ramparts of replicas and not from the real Red Fort and not address the real Parliament that is for sure because that misfortune will never visit people of India."
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said the BJP will significantly contribute to the formation of UPA-III by deciding to project "so divisive a person as Modi".
"He (Modi) is so divisive that even his own party ranks are riven with dissent over his choice. In the nation as a whole, he has polarised the conflict between communal and secular forces. But if the BJP chooses like lemmings to commit political suicide who are we to object," Aiyar said.
Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed said, "People of the country rejected Vajpayee after six years. Advani was also made the BJP candidate but people of the country rejected him and made him sit at home. Maximum dispute on Modi's name has come from BJP itself. The country will witness what happens to him in 2014.
