Taking exception to the criticism by Congress over the announcement of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, senior party leader Bandaru Dattatraya has said the reaction has exposed its fear of Modi.
Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Dattatraya said the mood of the nation is in favour of Modi and hence the Congress is indulging in negative campaign. “People of the nation have forgotten Godhra and are focusing on development and other issues, but Congress is time and again raising the issue and trying to show Modi in bad light,” he alleged.
Congress was targeting Modi to divert the attention of the nation from the failures of the UPA government, he said. “The Congress very well knows that Gandhi family has lost its charisma and is not in a the good books of the people,” he alleged.
“If the Congress has guts, let it announce Sonia Gandhi or her son Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections,” he challenged and added that the more the Congress criticises Modi, the stronger he will emerge.
The people of the country are vexed with the Congress and want to get rid of it, he said.
Even the parties supporting the Congress know very well that if they continue to be with it their political future will be in danger, he said. So, they are planning to leave it, he claimed.
The country needs a strong leadership to come out of the mess created by the UPA government. The people of the country see a promising leader in Modi and want him to lead the country, he said. The announcement of Modi’s name as BJP prime ministerial candidate has not only infused new energy in the party cadre, but also enthusiasm in the people of the country, he said.
On state bifurcation, the senior BJP leader said chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, his entire Cabinet and also the Union ministers belonging to the state should be dismissed for instigating the people of Seemandhra.