Congress advocacy of Lokpal Bill hard to swallow: Modi

Mr. Modi was addressing his maiden rally in Gujarat after being chosen BJP’s prime ministerial candidate here at the parade ground.

In a reference to Mr. Rahul Gandhi, who held a press conference in the national capital on Saturday and appealed all the political parties to shed their differences over the Bill, Mr. Modi said why the Congress leader was being so vocal about the issue when his party was silent in Uttarakhand.

“A Congress leader was yesterday talking about Lokpal at a press conference. My question is how can the leader of a party which has shied away from the creation of the anti-corruption watchdog so far be so vocal on the issue.

“I want to ask him if his heart really aches for Lokpal why hasn’t his party allowed the implementation of the Lokyukta Act in Uttarakhand passed by the State Assembly during BJP chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri’s tenure?” he said.

Drafted at a time when Anna Hazare’s agitation for a Lokpal Bill was at its peak, Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill was passed unanimously by the state Assembly on November 1, 2011, after Khanduri took over the reins in the State for a second time in September, 2011.

Though given presidential ascent after a two year wait in September this year, the Act is yet to be implemented in Uttarakhand as Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna wants to bring it into force only after certain amendments.

Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act brings under its ambit the chief minister, ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats among others.

Taking on the Congress, Mr. Modi said be it the government in Delhi or Dehradun they are “detached” from people with absolutely no concern for them.

Asking people to stop experimenting with new governments, he said lack of political stability had caused Uttarakhand and Jharkhand to lag behind Chhattisgarh, which stuck to BJP rule for years and is now on way to coming on a par with the most developed states in the country.

“I think though created together, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand are way behind Chhattisgarh when it comes to development. You changed many governments and many leaders. My suggestion is to you to stop experimenting now and have faith in the BJP. Things are bound to change,” he said.

Accusing Congress of cheating the people of the state, he claimed Vajpayee-led government had given a ten-year industrial package to the state whose tenure was reduced by the UPA.

Attack on Bahuguna govt

The Gujarat Chief Minister also launched a scathing attack on the Uttarakhand government for “hounding” yoga guru Ramdev “unnecessarily”.

If the Congress government in Uttarakhand spent even half of its energy it is “wasting” over investigating Mr. Ramdev on rehabilitating victims of mid-June calamity, their fortunes would have turned around, he said.

“It is surprising that the Congress government in the state was lodging a new case against Ramdev every day,” Mr. Modi said.

The BJP leader was making an oblique reference to 96 cases of alleged gross violation of land laws and stamp duty evasion lodged in quick succession against the yoga guru by Bahuguna government recently.

Mr. Modi also accused the Bahuguna government of being “callous” as it did not allow him to visit affected areas and “share the pain” of disaster victims when he visited the State during June.

“I came running to Uttarakhand to share the pain of the victims of the unprecedented tragedy but political callousness came in my way, I was not allowed to visit the affected areas,” he said.

“Politics should be a means to bail out people in times of crisis and not to deepen their pain. When Kucch was hit by an earthquake I accepted help from every possible quarter including even Pakistan,”

Noting that there was a tremendous potential for both adventure and religious tourism in Uttarakhand, Mr. Modi said the hill state needs a government which has the political will to tap its resources for the benefit of the people.

“125 crore people of the country nourish the dream of visiting this sacred land at least once in their lifetime for its religious significance. I see a potential market in that for the state’s tourism sector. Employment opportunities can be created for the youth and their exodus to big cities in search of work can be stopped. But all that would happen only when the party in power has the will to do so,” he said.

Stating that he had learnt a lot from Uttarakhand when he was in charge of the BJP’s affairs in the state, he sought people’s “blessings” so that he could repay his debt of gratitude to them.

Earlier, addressing the rally, BJP chief Rajnath Singh criticised the Congress government at the Centre for its “meak” foreign policy saying its total lack of aggression shows it is incapable of protecting the prestige of the country.

Terming Congress as a liability which people must get rid of, Singh asked people to ensure that all the five Lok Sabha seats in the state went into BJP’s kitty.

Rally to unite people

Flayed as a divisive figure by his critics, Mr. Modi led a marathon ‘Run for Unity’ organised by BJP across the country to mark death anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose legacy he has sought to espouse in the campaign for 2014 general election.

“This run is being organised with a determination to unite the people, unite the villages and unite the nation,” the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate said flagging of the event in Vadodara, adding, “This is an effort to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of all Indians. Please do not view it from prism of politics.”

Over 100 kilometres away in Ahmedabad, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani inaugurated the run, saying it was a true tribute to Patel on his 63rd death anniversary and praised the people for turning up in large numbers.

Both Mr. Modi and Mr. Advani, who fell out over the naming of the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, have been praised as ‘Iron man’ by their party leaders and supporters. The title was originally used for Patel, India’s first Home Minister.

BJP president Rajnath Singh and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley flagged off the marathon from the party headquarters in New Delhi. City leaders also participated in the 2-5 km run.

Party MP and spokesperson Prakash Javadekar took part in the marathon in Hyderabad while actor-turned-MP Smriti Irani led the race in West Bengal.

Ms. Irani said, “I think today in the country, we have over 50 lakh participants in the ‘Run for Unity’ and I am grateful to all those who participated because they are contributing towards the unity of India.”

The participants wore T-shirts with a picture of Sardar Patel on it. The theme for the race was good governance and national integration. 565 places were chosen by BJP for the race as Patel had integrated this number of princely states into the Union of India at the time of Independence.

BJP is also reaching out to people to collect iron pieces for the ambitious ‘Statue of Unity’ that Mr. Modi wants to build in memory of Sardar Patel -- touted as the tallest structure in the world.

Congress, which has accused Mr. Modi of trying to appropriate Patel’s legacy, attacked the Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP saying it is ironical that those responsible for communalising the country are organising the event.