Congress makes three-pronged attack on Modi and the BJP

The strategy of the BJP to attack the Election Commission (EC) and mobilise its cadre ahead of the last round of elections in eastern Uttar Pradesh has surprised the Congress.

Taken aback, the party fielded three of its spokespersons, including two Cabinet ministers, to counter Narendra Modi.

The Congress said the BJP’s efforts to polarise the electorate in Varanasi are not succeeding. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who was campaigning in Varanasi, said the attack on EC was reprehensible, regrettable and pathetic.

He said the BJP, which often criticises the Congress for denigrating Constitutional institutions, will respect such institutions only when their decisions are in its favour.

“They have been criticising the CBI so far. Now they are praising it for giving a certain clean chit to a certain person,” he said.

Khurshid further said the BJP has been projecting itself through a magnifying glass.

“You cannot decide goodness or wellness of an institution by what impact its decision has on you. And I think that’s far more apparent in BJP this time because BJP has projected itself through a magnifying glass. Your pimples and scars show up much bigger than otherwise,” he said and added, “If that’s what you do, then you don’t believe in rule of law, you don’t believe in objectivity and you don’t believe in rationality.”

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said Modi and the BJP are getting a bit desperate to win the elections.

“That is why it is making these outrageous attacks on the EC. The EC has allowed them to carry out their other events, then why should they take umbrage because just one event is denied?” Chidambaram told reporters at the AICC headquarters.

He said the “outrageous comments” expose Modi.

“I don’t think it diminishes the authority of the EC, rather it reveals the character of the person making the allegations,” he said.

In the third press conference, party spokesperson and senior leader from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil said Modi does not belong to a backward caste. Modi never sold tea, he said, adding he will provide proof for this shortly.

Gohil said he filed an RTI petition to find out since when Modh Ghanchi, the caste to which Modi belongs, was brought into the OBC list of the State.

“He belongs to the rich and prosperous Modh Ghanchis who were never given any kind of reservation nor were included in OBCs before Modi became CM. In the way encounters were fake in Gujarat, Modi is also a fake OBC,” Gohil said.

He added that Modh Ghanchi was included in the OBC list in January 2002, soon after Modi became the Chief Minister.

“Modi has been making loud claims of whether it is a sin to be of this particular caste. It is not a crime to be of any caste or community. But it definitely is a crime to put an upper caste in OBC category and then cry discrimination,” Gohil added.