Narendra Modi today targeted Sonia Gandhi over her meeting with the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid and brought her son-in-law Robert Vadra in the line of fire on his controversial land deals.
Addressing a rally in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on the outskirts of Delhi, he accused Gandhi of indulging in "rabid communalism" by appealing to the Shahi Imam to ensure that "secular" votes are not divided and asked the Election Commission to take cognizance of the matter.
The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate said Congress' "spies" had been closely following his rallies to see if he uttered any "communal" word so that they could go after him.
"They were troubled as there is no smell of communalism in what Modi is saying....They don't know how to deal with me. Sensing defeat, they have dropped the slogan of secularism and started rabid communalism. The Congress leader has started speaking the language of rabid communalism," he said.
Moving on to Kurukshetra and Gurgaon in Haryana, Modi targeted Vadra while taunting Rahul Gandhi for his 'chowkidar' comment.
He said when he projected himself as a "chowkidar" (watchman) of the country, "Shehzada (Rahul)" has contended that there was need for all the 125 crore people of the country to act as watchmen.
In a poser to Rahul, he said, "will your brother-in-law (Vadra) also be a 'chowkidar'. Will he guard people's land?... Will those accused of stealing coal also be the watchmen?.. Can a cat be entrusted with the responsibility of keeping a watch over milk?"
In Gurgaon, Modi again apparently targeted Vadra, saying, "The country wants to know, farmers of Gurgaon and Haryana want to know who is this 'baazigar (gambler)' who grabbed farmers' land and made Rs 50 crore in three month."
Modi did not name Vadra but was apparently referring to his controversial land deals, including in Gurgaon. The Haryana government has, however, said there was no wrongdoing by Vadra.
