For a man who doesn’t figure much in the affections of BJP President Rajnath Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi found adulatory mention in the former’s speech that kicked off the party’s campaign in the state. “Here is a chief minister who has not only fulfilled all the promises he made, but has also given Gujarat more than what was asked of him,” said Rajnath, who started his campaign in the Saurashtra-Kutch region from Kalawad in Jamnagar district on Tuesday.“If the Congress had fulfilled just some of the promises made during its 60-year rule, India would have been a developed country,” he said.The frothy, fullsome praise continued through much of the speech, which was also sprinkled with emotive issues like the Ram Setu, inflation and terrorism, besides digs at the Congress and the UPA Government and passing praise for the Kalawad candidate.Clad in a white dhoti-kurta teamed with a khadi jacket, Singh arrived almost two hours late at Dhoraji road, but the 2,000-strong crowd in the BJP stronghold patiently sat through a dayro (folk music) waiting for their leader.Rajnath began the speech by praising Kalawad candidate R.C. Faldu: “The two-term MLA boasts a clean image. Modi too has a clean image that no one can challenge. I am happy to campaign for such leaders,” he said.The happiness was visible in his praise for the Modi Government which, he said, had given the state over 10 per cent growth rate. “When India’s national growth rate is just over 8 per cent, it’s due to the hard work of the Modi Government that Gujarat is shining with over 10 per cent growth rate,” he said.The fact, he continued, could not be denied even by the Congress, when the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Sonia Gandhi, in its report ranked Gujarat the No. 1 state. “What the Congress Government has given to the country is inflation,” he said. “When the NDA was in power, the prices were under control.”He also accused the Congress of hurting religious sentiments by raising doubts about the existence of Lord Ram. “They have hurt everyone by filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court to break the Ram setu. Don’t we know where Lord Ram was born? Don’t we know that who built the Ram setu and why? The Congress doesn’t know,” he said.The Congress bashing continued, with the BJP chief raising the issues of farmer suicides and abolishing of POTA. “In Maharashtra, every day cotton farmers are committing suicide, whereas in Gujarat, cotton growers are making progress. Governance makes all the difference,” he thundered.He also credited Modi with maintaining law and order and for not letting terrorists enter the state. “When the NDA worked hard to bring a law against terrorism, the Congress, which is interested in the politics of vote bank, abolished it. It wants to create favour among some sections to corner votes, but the BJP wants to win the trust and love of Muslims to get the votes.”Whether it works for the party in Gujarat remains to be seen.
