Even as BJP national president Nitin Gadkari drew a parallel between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Mahatma Gandhi, saying that both believed in politics as a means to alleviate poverty, the former Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly and State Congress spokesman Arjun Modhvadia was detained, to prevent him from attending a convention of the poor addressed by the two BJP leaders.
On his first visit to Gujarat after taking over as party president, Mr. Gadkari on Saturday created a stir by comparing Mr. Modi, whom he described as the country’s “number one Chief Minister,” with the Mahatma.
Mr. Gadkari also drew a parallel between Gandhi and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, one of the founding fathers of the erstwhile Jana Sangh, stating that both believed in the same political ideologies of national unity and equality.
Accompanied by Mr. Modi, Mr. Gadkari visited the Kirti Mandir, the ancestral home and birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi in Porbandar, to pay homage on Gandhi Nirvan Day.
Later, he inaugurated an exhibition by sand sculptors on Gandhi, before attending a “Garib Kalyan Mela” addressed by the Chief Minister, to distribute government aid to the poor in Porbandar.
“I am happy that I am in Porbandar on Gandhi Nirvan Day and also had the opportunity to unveil a statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, both of whom had given foremost importance to national unity,” he said.
In a brief chat with journalists on the sidelines of the exhibition, Mr. Gadkari said both Gandhi and Mr. Modi believed that politics should be used as a tool for socio-economic development of the poor and not as an instrument of power.
“Alleviating poverty should be the ultimate goal of all politics and Mr. Modi was a living example for the ideal, working tirelessly to achieve the goal,” he said.
Mr. Gadkari was all praise for Mr. Modi at the “Garib Kalyan Mela.”
He described Mr. Modi as the “Vikas Purush” (Man for Development).
Modhvadia detained
As per protocol, since he was the Porbandar MLA, Mr. Modhvadia was invited to attend the “Garib Kalyan Mela,” but just as he was preparing to leave for the venue, the police arrived at his residence and put him under preventive detention.
Later, he along with about 40 of his supporters, were taken to the police station and detained till the convention was over.
Mr. Modhvadia, who had issued a strong statement condemning Mr. Modi’s latest attacks on the Congress leaders, said he was detained only because the State government knew that he would protest at the convention if Mr. Modi continued with his tirade against the Central leaders.
Both he and the State Congress president Siddhartha Patel, condemned the arrest and claimed that Mr. Modi was deliberately misleading the people by hiding the fact that over 90 per cent of the aid being distributed to the poor in the series of “Garib Kalyan Mela” were under the Central government schemes.
Mr. Patel also condemned the presence of Mr. Gadkari on the dais in a State government programme, and said Mr. Modi had turned an official ceremony held at the expense of the State exchequer into a party platform.
