File photo of Kapil Sibal.
"Maa Ganga is very wise and can distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly," Congress today said, reminding Narendra Modi, who had invoked the sacred river and promised to cleanse it, that "three most polluted rivers" of India flow in Gujarat.
Targeting Modi a day after his roadshow in Varanasi where he filed his nomination, the party also made a fervent appeal to people of the holy city to support it in the "battle of ideologies" and reject the divisive forces.
Party spokesman and Union Minister Kapil Sibal alleged that after filing his nomination in Varanasi, Modi wrote a letter which again was "replete with half-truths."
"It talks about cleaning the Ganga being 'our mother'. He then cites Sabarmati as an example. He says when he took over as Chief Minister in 2001, the condition of Sabarmati was different from what it is in 2014. In fact, Sabarmati is bedevilled with the same problems which afflict the Ganga", he said in Delhi.
Sibal remarked, "Maa Ganga is very wise and it can distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly... Modi invoked Gautam Buddha's name. What an irony. Buddha left his kingdom for Nirvana, Modi came to Varanasi for kingdom."
Rejecting Modi's claims of development in his home state, Sibal said, "vibrant Gujarat is full of vibrant lies. Lies are also vibrant and at the heart of all this is an administration run by a man for whom distorting facts is a daily routine."
He said that Modi's statement that "he will clean the Ganga with the touch of hand as if he is God" is in stark contrast to a survey of Central Pollution Control Board which said that the three most polluted rivers are in Gujarat - Sabarmati, Khari and Amlakhadi.
In Varanasi, Union Minister and party leader Manish Tewari said the fight for Congress in this election is all about "protecting the idea of India" and asked people of Varanasi to defend its plurality and rich cultural tradition.
"It is a battle of ideologies.In this election, the fight is to protect the core values and ideology which have strong roots in Banaras," Tewari said addressing a press conference.
Asked about Modi road show yesterday, Tewari said he was told that people from neighbouring areas were "brought" to the city.
"Varanasi has rich tradition and I do not think there will be any major impact of it (road show) in the election.
"I was told when Rai filed his nomination, a large number of local people had gathered," Tewari said.
Sibal also ridiculed Modi for taking credit for the Sardar Sarovar Project noting that the project began in 1950 when Jawahar Lal Nehru was Prime Minister, its implementation began in 1985 and the Supreme Court judgement regarding the dam height came in 2000.
"Modi was nowhere then. He had nothing to do with the Sardar Sarovar project. But he advertised it as if it was his contribution," Sibal said.
He also countered Modi's claims that Narmada irrigation system will help in reaching water to remote areas of Gujarat.
Releasing pictures of a number of dry canals, he said that these have cost Rs 29,000 crore, yet farmers are still waiting for the water to reach them.
"Farmers believed four decades ago that Narmada waters will reach their farms. The reality today is that this water is being sold to industrial houses at Rs 10 per 10,000 litres.
"This is how farmers who rely on water for their daily living become indebted and have to sell their land.
Industrial houses sign MoUs at Vibrant Gujarat waiting to grab poor farmer's land. Where has Rs 29,000 crore earmarked for the maintaience of canals gone, why was the amount not spent for the purpose it was allocated", he said.