Rajkot: Sonia Gandhi launched her party's Gujarat campaign in Rajkot today by neatly side-stepping Narendra Modi's best attempts to provoke her into a direct war of words on the foreign travel issue he raised recently. Instead, she attacked the Gujarat Chief Minister on the plank he uses most to highlight his achievements - development.
Mrs Gandhi said all the areas that the state had done well in were established in Congress rule. "No one has done as much for the development of Gujarat as the Congress has done," she said, also lauding farmers, artisans and traders of the Saurashtra region for having worked hard to take the state forward, implying that Mr Modi took credit where it was not due. She lambasted him for "choosing not to see how far the country has developed, and misleading the people of the state" for "talking only of darkness," and for "unnecessary sloganeering". Mrs Gandhi said, "Modi did not tell you that 50% funds came from the Centre," and "The Centre is trying to help you, why does Gujarat have the highest Value Added Tax?"
This was the first time that Mrs Gandhi addressed a public gathering after the UPA government set off on its "reforms-are-back" agenda in the face of much political opposition and she launched a strong defence of the government's policies, saying difficult economic conditions the world over necessitated tough decisions in the country. She promised that FDI in retail would help farmers and also justified the recent fuel price hike.
Mrs Gandhi said all the areas that the state had done well in were established in Congress rule. "No one has done as much for the development of Gujarat as the Congress has done," she said, also lauding farmers, artisans and traders of the Saurashtra region for having worked hard to take the state forward, implying that Mr Modi took credit where it was not due. She lambasted him for "choosing not to see how far the country has developed, and misleading the people of the state" for "talking only of darkness," and for "unnecessary sloganeering". Mrs Gandhi said, "Modi did not tell you that 50% funds came from the Centre," and "The Centre is trying to help you, why does Gujarat have the highest Value Added Tax?"
This was the first time that Mrs Gandhi addressed a public gathering after the UPA government set off on its "reforms-are-back" agenda in the face of much political opposition and she launched a strong defence of the government's policies, saying difficult economic conditions the world over necessitated tough decisions in the country. She promised that FDI in retail would help farmers and also justified the recent fuel price hike.
Rajkot, in the Saurashtra region, is BJP territory, but the Congress hopes to exploit the fact that it is in this Patel stronghold that BJP rebel Keshubhai Patel has begun his rival political party. A Sonia Gandhi election rally was also of much interest as five years ago, while campaigning in Gujarat, she had called Mr Modi "a trader of death (Maut ka Saudagar)." That, many political analysts say, may have swung the elections in favour of Mr Modi, who, they say, used it to his political advantage. That time Mr Modi had raked up the issue of Mrs Gandhi's foreign origin. In the 2007 elections, he came strongly back to power winning 117 of the 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly; the Congress won just 59 seats.
This time, just before Mrs Gandhi's scheduled visit, Mr Modi has accused the Manmohan Singh government of spending crores of public money on her foreign travel. But Sonia Gandhi refused to be drawn into any personal attack or even mention of Mr Modi's comments, merely saying that she had been attacked before and she expected that to continue. Elaborate security arrangements are in place for the Congress President's visit, with a team from the Special Protection Group conducting security checks at the places that the she is visiting. 1,000 policemen have been deployed at the Race Course Road rally venue, where a huge crowd gathered today.
Mr Modi claimed on Monday that the Manmohan Singh government had spent nearly Rs. 1900 crore on Mrs Gandhi's foreign trips abroad in the last three years. When that claim rang hollow with an RTI activist said to have gleaned that information denying it, Mr Modi tweaked his attack and asked the Congress why it had not shared details of her trips despite the activist's application for that information.
This time, just before Mrs Gandhi's scheduled visit, Mr Modi has accused the Manmohan Singh government of spending crores of public money on her foreign travel. But Sonia Gandhi refused to be drawn into any personal attack or even mention of Mr Modi's comments, merely saying that she had been attacked before and she expected that to continue. Elaborate security arrangements are in place for the Congress President's visit, with a team from the Special Protection Group conducting security checks at the places that the she is visiting. 1,000 policemen have been deployed at the Race Course Road rally venue, where a huge crowd gathered today.
Mr Modi claimed on Monday that the Manmohan Singh government had spent nearly Rs. 1900 crore on Mrs Gandhi's foreign trips abroad in the last three years. When that claim rang hollow with an RTI activist said to have gleaned that information denying it, Mr Modi tweaked his attack and asked the Congress why it had not shared details of her trips despite the activist's application for that information.
Mr Modi said he had based Monday's claim on information in a local newspaper. That newspaper's editor, on Tuesday, said his information was based on "local wires" or news agencies, but was not able to share more information. The story he ran said that RTI activist Ramesh Verma of Haryana had unearthed the details of the expenses. Except that the activist says that's not true - he says that two years ago, he asked the government to share how much has been spent on Mrs Gandhi's foreign trips in the last 10 years and is yet to receive a response, even though the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) had directed the Prime Minister's Office to reply to him. Neither the government nor the Congress was able to explain why. When Mr Verma issued his first denial on Monday, Mr Modi was forced to announce that he will publicly apologise if his allegation was proven untrue.
Now, another RTI activist Trupti Shah has come forward and said she had filed an RTI appeal five years ago to know how much was spent on Mr Modi's travel in 2007, just before assembly elections, to " 27 places by helicopter but there is no mention of this in the Government expenses." Ms Shah, who says she is yet to get a reply from the CM's office to her repeated queries, had also written in July to Mr Modi, who she says had travelled to attend seminars and conferences on women's empowerment at the time. Ms Shah said she had also written to the Gujarat Information Commissioner, but was yet to get the details she had sought. "I had asked under the RTI Act for the expenses of the Women's Empowerment Seminar that in the name of women empowerment, why are they having this seminar? But the Chief Minister's office has not replied to any of my queries regarding the expenses," she said.
Gujarat Government spokesman Jaynarayan Vyas would only say on Wednesday morning that Ms Shah had all right to seek and get that information and that she had recourse to legal methods to obtain it.
Adding a new confused dimension to the Sonia-Modi controversy, both the BJP and the Congress keep referring to the expenses on Mrs Gandhi's trips abroad for medical treatment. That's not what the RTI activist asked for. "We also give good wishes for the health of Sonia Gandhi, but if expenses were paid from the public treasury, please clarify," Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP spokesperson, said.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh retaliated. "As far as Soniaji's trips are concerned, everyone knows about her health issues. His (Modi) comments are reflective of his own character and his party." He added that Mr Modi has been well-trained by his party's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in "the Nazi tradition of spreading false propaganda."
"Sangh trains it's cadre in disinformation campaign. Obviously Modi has been trained well! Sangh has modelled itself in the Nazi tradition," Mr Singh said on micro-blogging site Twitter.
Now, another RTI activist Trupti Shah has come forward and said she had filed an RTI appeal five years ago to know how much was spent on Mr Modi's travel in 2007, just before assembly elections, to " 27 places by helicopter but there is no mention of this in the Government expenses." Ms Shah, who says she is yet to get a reply from the CM's office to her repeated queries, had also written in July to Mr Modi, who she says had travelled to attend seminars and conferences on women's empowerment at the time. Ms Shah said she had also written to the Gujarat Information Commissioner, but was yet to get the details she had sought. "I had asked under the RTI Act for the expenses of the Women's Empowerment Seminar that in the name of women empowerment, why are they having this seminar? But the Chief Minister's office has not replied to any of my queries regarding the expenses," she said.
Gujarat Government spokesman Jaynarayan Vyas would only say on Wednesday morning that Ms Shah had all right to seek and get that information and that she had recourse to legal methods to obtain it.
Adding a new confused dimension to the Sonia-Modi controversy, both the BJP and the Congress keep referring to the expenses on Mrs Gandhi's trips abroad for medical treatment. That's not what the RTI activist asked for. "We also give good wishes for the health of Sonia Gandhi, but if expenses were paid from the public treasury, please clarify," Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP spokesperson, said.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh retaliated. "As far as Soniaji's trips are concerned, everyone knows about her health issues. His (Modi) comments are reflective of his own character and his party." He added that Mr Modi has been well-trained by his party's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in "the Nazi tradition of spreading false propaganda."
"Sangh trains it's cadre in disinformation campaign. Obviously Modi has been trained well! Sangh has modelled itself in the Nazi tradition," Mr Singh said on micro-blogging site Twitter.
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