Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was at the centre of a slanging match, with the Congress, the National Conference and the Trinamool Congress targeting him. On his part, Mr. Modi kept the heat on them with sharp retorts, as campaigning for the seventh phase of polls ended on Monday.
The BJP leader dubbed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi a “ >specimen who has little knowledge of Gujarat. ” “If you want to relieve stress, listen to Rahul’s speeches. As per his mathematics, there are 27,000 crore jobs lying vacant in Gujarat. How can this be possible when the total population of Gujarat is six crore? What kind of namuna [specimen] has the Congress brought?” Mr. Modi asked at a rally in Patan, Gujarat.
The Congress leader hit back, saying at a >rally in Kanpur that “there is only one model in Gujarat and that is to help big industrialists and corporate houses. Not everybody can prosper in Gujarat. But if you have the name Adani [group of industries], all gates will open up for you.”
The BJP, meanwhile, continued its attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra, for his alleged dubious land deals. “Instead of throwing a challenge at us, the Congress needs to give some answers,” spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said. Mr. Modi was also involved in a war of words on social media with the National Conference leadership.
(With additional reporting by Omar Rashid in Lucknow and PTI)
