Modi says Rahul's PM remark is dynastic ‘arrogance'
Chikmagaluru (Karnataka), May 9: In the final lap of his campaign blitz in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack against Congress President Rahul Gandhi, saying a "dynasty" aspiring to be the Prime Minister was sheer "arrogance".
Addressing back-to-back rallies at different places in the southern state, which votes on Saturday to elect a new government, Modi said Congress leaders were arranging big meetings and conspiring to remove him.
Taking a swipe at Gandhi, Modi said he was day-dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister in 2019.
"There is a leader of Congress who thinks only about one thing throughout the day - how to be the Prime Minister. Such is the arrogance of the 'naamdhaar'. This naamdhaar (dynasty) doesn't care about others who are standing in the queue.
"He came like a bully, marched his way ahead when there were others waiting with so many years of experience. How can someone just declare himself the Prime Minister? This is simply nothing but sheer arrogance."
He said Gandhi with an "inflated ego despite losing 25-30 elections in the last four years" didn't even bother about the leaders who have been waiting for 40 years and about other allies in the UPA.
"The Congress has lost in almost all the states in the last four years. But the ego of the 'naamdhaar' is still bloated. He says he will become the Prime Minister in 2019. Isn't this his ego?"
During an interaction with prominent citizens in Bangalore on Tuesday, the Congress President had replied in the affirmative when he was asked if he was ready to be India's Prime Minister if the Congress emerges as the largest party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress hit back at Modi asking him if he thought he was the only one who had the right to be Prime Minister.
"Is Narendra Modi the only one with the right to be the Prime Minister?" Congress spokesman Anand Sharma asked.
Modi also accused the Congress, which has been in power in Karnataka for the last five years, of not doing justice with the aspirations of the people of the state and instead bringing six evils -- "Congress culture, communalism, casteism, crime, corruption and contract system" -- to the country.
He said Congress leaders were out on bail in a Rs 5,000 crore scam and had "absolutely no respect for many of our prominent institutions like the Election Commission, CBI, Army, Enforcement Director or Vice President's office.
"The Congress has been on a spree to disrespect and belittle these great institutions," Modi said, adding that they were were now questioning the judiciary and even calling for impeachment of the Chief Justice of India.
The Prime Minister also attacked his predecessor Manmohan Singh, who on Monday criticized the BJP government for its "disastrous policies" and "economic mismanagement", leaving the country with crises that were avoidable.
"When Manmohan Singh had his government in the Centre, the remote control was at 10, Janpath (official residence of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi)," he said.
Under his rule, Modi said, it were the people who held the remote control.
The Prime Minister said he would continue to follow the orders of the "high command" -- the countrymen, the citizens.
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Ajit Pawar wins Baramati battle, defeats nephew Yugendra by more than 1 lakh votes
Baramati, Nov 23: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Ajit Pawar on Saturday won from his traditional Baramati assembly constituency by defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar by more than one lakh votes.
Ajit, who parted ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar last year and was seeking an eighth term from this family bastion in Pune district, polled 1,81,132 votes while Yugendra Pawar polled 80,233 votes.
Ajit, thus, defeated his younger brother's son by 1,00,899 votes.
Five months ago, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had triumphed in Baramati in the Lok Sabha elections, with incumbent MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule defeating Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes.
Both the NCP factions did not leave a single stone unturned during the assembly campaign, and even Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revati were seen campaigning for Yugendra, while Ajit Pawar brought his mother on stage during his concluding rally in Baramati.
While Sharad Pawar told the people of Baramati that they needed a new leadership, alluding to Yugendra Pawar whom he described as a highly-educated candidate, Ajit Pawar cautioned people not to fall prey to the "emotional pitch" by the senior Pawar.
After Saturday's results, Ajit Pawar, who along with several other NCP legislators sided with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023, could claim to be the real political heir of his estranged uncle who founded the NCP in 1999.
Sunetra Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member, thanked the people of Baramati for reposing their faith once again in `Dada' (elder brother in Marathi, as Ajit is fondly called).
