Congress, other parties gang up against Modi

While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described Modi as the “architect of riots,” Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah stated, “If any person in the world is opposite of secularism, it is Modi. Modiji you don't have the courage to come to Kashmir and campaign. You want to be the PM of the country but don't have courage come to Kashmir." UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, in one of election rallies, in his own style, unveiled the full form of MODI, saying it is “Model of Dividing India.” Modi, he said, wants to divide the country on caste and religious lines. Not to be left behind, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel accused Modi of spreading venom in the country.

Aware that the Modi-led BJP is way ahead, the anti-communal forces, on the last lap of the campaign, targeted Modi on his communal agenda. Trinamool Congress, National Conference, Samajwadi Party, besides AIADMK and JD (U), are unlikely to come forward and support Modi, if he falls short of touching the magic figure of 272.

The Congress, which was single-handedly taking on Modi so far, got the unexpected support of all these parties, particularly when it talked of supporting the Third Front, in the wake of the hung Parliament.

"We are staring at a nightmarish dream as the person is being projected by you (media) as the PM of the country. If he becomes the PM, it is nation's misfortune and dark days will be ushered in," Mamata said.

"He is saying that Bengalis from Bangladesh will be packed off to Bangladesh. Why? Who is he to speak like that? "Bangladesh is a neighbouring country. Will I have to go and pick up a fight with them on the issue? We have to strike a good relation," she said.

Earlier, Mamata’s lieutenant Derek O’Brien had termed Modi as “Butcher of Gujarat.” Replying to the charge made by Modi that the Hindus were forced to leave Kashmir due to the misrule of National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, J & K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reminded Modi that they indeed fled during the tenure of BJP and its partners (reference being to BJP-backed National Front Government). He said, “If there is one thing Kashmir and Kashmiris don’t need from Modi, it’s a lecture on secularism. Kashmir gave the world Kashmiriyat and tolerance, he tweeted.

Omar reminded the Gujarat Chief Minister that Sheikh Abdullah chose a secular India rather than Muslim Pakistan and then spent two decades incarcerated but didn't waver. He said that in 1947, when Hindu-Muslim violence swept the country, the State of Jammu Kashmir was a beacon of tolerance, an example to the rest.

Modi had accused the Abdullah family saying that Kashmiri Pandits were removed from their homes only due to their religion. “Is this secularism? Just for the sake of politics, Dr Abdullah's family communalised J&K, which is a land of Sufism and harmony,” he had asked.

O’Brien charged Modi to prove his charge that Mamata Banerjee “pocketed” Rs 1.8 crore by selling one painting of hers or face defamation. Modi had wondered as to how the paintings of Mamata Banerjee, which were sold for Rs 4 lakh or Rs 15 lakh was sold at Rs 1.80 crore. “I support art but who was the person who bought the painting for Rs 1.80 crore,” he wanted to know. Interestingly, the Samajwadi Party, which is fighting against Congress in Uttar Pradesh, also came up in defence of Robert Vadra by training its guns on the BJP.