This Article is From Oct 03, 2012

Sonia Gandhi avoids tit-for tat with Narendra Modi; defends FDI in retail

Rajkot: Sonia Gandhi launched her party's Gujarat campaign in Rajkot today by neatly side-stepping Narendra Modi's best attempts to provoke her into a direct war of words on the foreign travel issue he raised recently, making clear the Congress would not let him set the agenda for debate. Instead, she attacked the Gujarat Chief Minister on the plank he uses most to highlight his achievements - development. And used her first rally to defend recent reforms, an issue that Mr Modi's BJP worries will allow the Congress to refurbish its political image.(Highlights of Sonia Gandhi's speech)

This was also the first time that Mrs Gandhi addressed a public gathering after the UPA government her party leads set off on its "reforms-are-back" agenda in the face of much political opposition, and the Congress president launched a strong defence of the government's policies, saying difficult economic conditions the world over necessitated tough decisions in the country. She promised that FDI in retail would help farmers and also justified the recent fuel price hike. "I want to ask, should farmers not get the money for their hardwork? People should get their security needs at a fair and affordable price and FDI will help in this" She also said that the states have the right to reject FDI policy. "Then why all this hungama?" she asked. (Watch)

Defending the the PM's recent fiscal reforms, the Congress President said, "We are facing challenging situations right now. We have to buy 80% of oil from other countries.The UPA government still is making an effort to support people, why can't state governments do the same for people?" 

"In Congress- ruled states, economically weaker sections get three extra LPG cylinders. Why doesn't Gujarat follow that model?," she said also, questioning why Gujarat has the highest Value Added Tax (VAT).

She also took on the BJP's  recent stance on  charges of graft against the UPA government and said, "Yeh log brashtachar ke khilaf nahin, sirf hamare khilaf hain. Ek naya Gujarat banana hai aur banayenge (These people are not against corruption, just against us. We have to make a new Gujarat and we will)"

Setting the tone for an aggressive battle on Modi turf, Mrs Gandhi said all the areas that the state had done well in, were established in Congress rule. "No one has done as much for the development of Gujarat as the Congress has done," she said, also lauding farmers, artisans and traders of the Saurashtra region for having worked hard to take the state forward, implying that Mr Modi took credit where it was not due.

She lambasted him for "choosing not to see how far the country has developed, and misleading the people of the state" for "talking only of darkness," and for "unnecessary sloganeering". Mrs Gandhi said, "They (Gujarat government) did not tell you that 50% funds came from the Centre."

Reacting to the Congress President's Rajkot speech, the BJP said  she was being "economical with the truth.".

"I am really disappointed that Sonia Gandhi who is the president of the congress has given statements like this. Due to political reasons, she is making unwarranted statements, " said BJP's Balbir Punj.  He said Gujarat has had the maximum development and "wherever they (the Congress) rule, the state is doomed."

Rajkot, in the Saurashtra region, is BJP territory, but the Congress hopes to exploit the fact that it is in this Patel stronghold that BJP rebel Keshubhai Patel has begun his rival political party. The Congress also chose to begin its campaign in Saurashtra, which has a significant 58 of the 182 Gujarat seats, as the region has seen many farmer suicides and expectedly, Mrs Gandhi highlighted that. She said, "Farmers are committing suicides. Why has the Narmada's water has not reached the people in Saurashtra?"

A Sonia Gandhi election rally was also of much interest as five years ago, while campaigning in Gujarat, she had called Mr Modi "a dealer of death (Maut ka Saudagar)." That, many political analysts say, may have swung the elections in favour of Mr Modi, who, they say, used it to his political advantage. That time Mr Modi had raked up the issue of Mrs Gandhi's foreign origin. In the 2007 elections, he came strongly back to power winning 117 of the 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly; the Congress won just 59 seats.

This time, just before Mrs Gandhi's scheduled visit, Mr Modi has accused the Manmohan Singh government of spending crores of public money on her foreign travel. But Sonia Gandhi refused to be drawn into any personal attack or even mention of Mr Modi's comments, merely saying that she had been attacked before and she expected that to continue.

Mr Modi claimed on Monday that the Manmohan Singh government had spent nearly 1900 crores on Mrs Gandhi's foreign trips abroad in the last three years. When that claim rang hollow with an RTI activist said to have gleaned that information denying it, Mr Modi tweaked his attack and asked the Congress why it had not shared details of her trips despite the activist's application for that information.
 
Adding a new confused dimension to the Sonia-Modi controversy, both the BJP and the Congress keep referring to the expenses on Mrs Gandhi's trips abroad for medical treatment. That's not what the RTI activist asked for. "We also give good wishes for the health of Sonia Gandhi, but if expenses were paid from the public treasury, please clarify," Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP spokesperson, said. (After Modi's claim about Sonia rings hollow, BJP tweaks attacks)

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh retaliated. "As far as Soniaji's trips are concerned, everyone knows about her health issues. His (Modi) comments are reflective of his own character and his party." He added that Mr Modi has been well-trained by his party's parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in "the Nazi tradition of spreading false propaganda."
"Sangh trains it's cadre in disinformation campaign. Obviously Modi has been trained well! Sangh has modelled itself in the Nazi tradition," Mr Singh said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

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