Modi mocks low turnout at Rahul Gandhi's Delhi rally

Alwar (Rajasthan): BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today took a dig at the poor attendance at Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Delhi on November 17 while comparing it to the turnout at his rally.

“There are rallies where people are told ‘stop, don’t go; stop, don’t go’. And there are rallies where I have to apologise to people because they could not see me,” he said.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate was apparently referring to Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit’s appeal to sections of the crowd to wait till Congress Vice-President’s speech got over at the November 17 rally.

Citing critical judicial observations on the functioning of the Rajasthan government, the Gujarat Chief Minister said the Ashok Gehlot government had been “sleeping for 55 months and has woken up in the last five months”.

“Is government just a tool for winning elections,” he asked. “Gehlotji claims that Rajasthan is the number one state. I am here to support his claim. It is number one in atrocities against Scheduled Tribe, poor drinking water facility and for having the maximum number of ministers in jail on criminal charges,” he said sarcastically.

Modi made light of Gehlot’s criticism of his developmental claims about Gujarat, saying it is recognised in India and abroad and he did not need Rajasthan CM’s certificate for that.

“The geography of Rajasthan and Gujarat is almost similar. I have laid long pipelines to make water available till the Pakistan border… These pipes are so big that Gehlotji and his family can travel in them in a Maruti car,” he said while underlining the unavailability of quality water in large parts of the state.

Touching on the issue of corruption, he said UPA government has allegedly indulged in scams everywhere from land to water and sky.

Raking up the issue of black money, he said UPA was protecting the corrupt and added that there should be a law to ensure that government is aware of the details of bank accounts registered in the country and abroad.

PTI