FRONT PAGE | Monday, February 23, 2009 | Email | Print | 
‘Congmen are aquarium fish’
PNS | Margao/New Delhi
We weather ocean storms: Modi; he is a piranha: Cong
Aquarium fish’ and ‘piranha’ are the latest additions to the ever-growing political lexicon ahead of the Lok Sabha poll. With the war of words between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress leaders turning shriller by the day, Modi on Sunday compared Congress poster boy Rahul Gandhi to an “aquarium fish” and the Congress hit back by describing him as a “piranha” that devours human beings.
While Modi did not name Rahul Gandhi directly, he dropped enough hints to leave no one in doubt as to who was the perceived target. Addressing a poll rally in Margao, Modi said the youth in the Congress were incapable of taking on challenges while the BJP’s youth wing could handle any hostile eventuality. “We are not small fish floating around in the comforts of aquaria…we weather huge storms to win,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the Congress’ projection of Rahul as a “youth icon”, Modi said, “Some people call themselves young. I ask who are these self-proclaimed youngsters? Can one be called young if he belongs to a rich family? Isn’t a youth from a poor family young as well? Wasn’t former Goa CM Manohar Parikkar young? Their only fault was that their fathers were not the Prime Ministers or Chief Ministers in the country?”
“Flowers grown in an orchard may be beautiful but flowers growing on their own in a jungle have their own power and different fragrance. Friends, I am a flower grown in a jungle, we are fish that swim in an ocean but we are not fish of an aquaria. Fish of an aquarium are being shown to you people. They don’t have the strength to fight the waves of ocean but we can fight it,” Modi told the gathering.
Switching from a veiled reference to a more direct attack on Rahul, Modi said, “Aren’t there young people living in slums and homes of the poor? But they are not considered young because their fathers are not rich, because their fathers or mothers were not Prime Ministers.”
Further targeting Rahul, Modi said the “prince” was not able to salvage any pride in the Gujarat panchayat elections despite camping in the State. “In fact, the Congress lost its base in Gujarat during the panchayat elections. Rahul could not do anything,” he said.
On Saturday, Modi had hit back at Gandhi following his charge that the State Government had doled out incentives worth crores of rupees to Tata’s Nano project even as it neglected the diamond workers.
The Congress reacted sharply to Modi’s “fish” remarks, with spokesperson Manish Tewari saying in New Delhi: “If Rahul is a fish in an aquarium, then Modi is a piranha who devours human beings.” He said Modi had no right to speak about the poor for, unlike Rahul Gandhi, he had never spent a day in a Dalit’s shanty. “The Chief Minister of Gujarat has lost it completely,” remarked Tewari. He said the “Congress party has a history of empowering the youth; it is not a new development”.
Meanwhile, in a significant development, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday began his two-day Gujarat tour, his third visit to the State in 20 days, which the party dubs an “indirect election campaign” aimed at attracting the youth.
Email | Print | Rate:
|