Journalism of Courage
Opening his partys campaign in Delhi by launching a frontal attack on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit,BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said she must be the happiest chief minister in the country since she has no responsibility and only cuts ribbons,morning to evening throughout the year.
Addressing a massive rally at the Japanese Park in Rohini,Modi targeted Dikshit who is seeking a fourth successive term in power: If there is one chief minister in the country who can be called the happiest,it is the Delhi chief minister. All she does is cut ribbons,morning to evening,throughout the year. She does not have to
handle departments such as agriculture,
animal husbandry or fishermen community like us.
If there are potholes on the roads,she blames municipal corporations. If there is a law and order problem,she blames the Centre. She is the happiest of the lot.. she is neither responsible… nor accountable.
He accused Dikshit of passing the buck for anything that goes wrong in the city.
Referring to the December 16 gangrape,he said all that the chief minister did was say that she too was a mother. She then went on to advise girls to return home early instead of assuring them that they would be safe. Even a family can give such advice. What did the chief minister do?… She has an easy job,she is not accountable for any wrong in the city. All she has to do is to pass the buck,up or down.
He took a swipe at the multiplicity of authority,referring to them as the governments of ma-beta.
In Delhi,we have a mother-son government. At the Centre,there is a government of the mother,son and son-in-law… Delhi has been suffering from multiple governments. Here,every department is a government in itself and they work against each other.
He also came down hard on the Dikshit government when he referred to the Commonwealth Games scandal. He said India had lost a golden opportunity to market itself at the international level.
Sports is a medium to showcase the country on a global platform. China and South Korea saw a great opportunity in holding the Olympics and used it as a marketing technique to promote themselves… but the Congress shamed the country with the scandal and robbed the country of sportsman spirit,of such opportunities for the next 20 years, he said.
Aware of the deep divisions within the Delhi unit of the BJP the party has not named a chief ministerial candidate lest it complicates matters Modi called out the names of four party leaders,saying this was the only state with so many Vijays,meaning victory.
Vijay Goel,Vijay Kumar Malhotra,Vijendra Gupta and Vijay Sharma. I would like to congratulate the party on organising this historic rally… Have faith in me and the party,we will give you good governance, he told the rally.
On the dais,one leader who seemed to have been pushed into the background was Harsh Vardhan,tipped a serious contender for the chief ministers post in the event of a BJP win in the Assembly election. He was seen struggling to find a place as leaders packed the dais,eager to be seen next to Modi.
Leader of Opposition Malhotra sat to the left of Modi while Goel was on the right. Modi even hugged Goel after he spoke on corruption and increase in power tariff.
