Ahmedabad:
Tech-savvy Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi today scored a first when he launched his election campaign for Assembly by addressing rallies in four cities simultaneously.
Mr Modi claimed that for the first time in the world an election campaign was being launched using 3D technology and telecast in four places.
"You are witnessing a unique and first-ever incident," he said.
His image, projected on screens in four places, was clear, but there were some technical glitches. Audio output was not available for a few minutes.
In his speech, telecast on specially erected screens in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat with the help of 3D holographic technology and satellite link-ups, Mr Modi, who spoke from a studio in Gandhinagar, took on Congress for comparing him to "monkey" and "rats".
He said he took pride in being called so, because both these creatures were "messengers of God".
"Had Congress leaders studied Ramayana, they would have got a fair idea of 'vanar shakti'. I accept the title given by them to me," Mr Modi said, while lashing out at Congress for using "foul language".
During the recent election rallies, state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Hussain Dalwai had compared Modi to "monkey" and "rats", respectively.
"Devotion and services of lord Hanuman are known globally....I have got the chance to serve Gujarat, so the six crore Gujaratis are like Ram to me, I am their Hanuman," Mr Modi said.
Further, he said, the Congress leader was unaware of significance of rats in the Hindu mythology. "Rat is considered to be vehicle of 'vighn-harta' Ganesh....I feel proud that with Lord Ganesh on my back, Gujarat faces no problems."
Dismissing the allegations of allocating village grazing lands to corporates, Mr Modi claimed that he had allocated only the waste land.
"My government has mostly allocated waste land in coastal area, whereas 90 per cent of the land allocated by Congress governments is grazing land, and that too the fertile land in south Gujarat," he alleged.
Engineering education in the state was the cheapest in "whole world", he claimed.
"I can proudly say that in Gujarat, engineering education is the cheapest in the whole world. In our state it costs only Rs 1,500, where in Rajasthan, under Congress rule, it costs more then Rs 44,000," Mr Modi said.
At the Ahmedabad gathering, BJP MP and former cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu was also present.