‘Congress practising unch, neech politics’

Prospect of defeat causing discomfiture to Sonia, says the BJP prime ministerial candidate

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, on Friday said the Congress, after relying on the politics of “untouchability,” now shifted to unch [high] and neech [low] in its desperation to stave off defeat.

Addressing a series of rallies at Motihari, Siwan and Gopalganj in Bihar, Mr. Modi said Congress president Sonia Gandhi should not be using terms such as “ unch and neech ” just because she was facing defeat. The prospect of defeat was causing discomfiture to Ms. Gandhi as the party’s game of caste and communalism was coming to an end.

Mr. Modi attacked the Congress for seeking an explanation from a Muslim MP from Kerala for praising him and for the demands by its leaders to take back the Bharat Ratna from singer Lata Mangeshkar, who also praised him. The party had no right to describe his politics as

neech .

Running down Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s proposal to put Gopalganj and Bihar on the industrial map by establishing an industrial corridor, Mr. Modi said setting up a processing unit for Litchhi in Motihari and sugar mills in Gopalganj was a better option.

Mr. Modi did not spare Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, he alleged, also practised the “politics of untouchability” by first inviting BJP leaders — attending the national executive of the party here in 2010 — for a dinner and then shutting the doors on them.