Oust lahu purush, Manishankar Aiyar tells Gujaratis

Former petroleum minister Manishankar Aiyar on Saturday described Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as ‘Lahu Purush’, taking a dig at him for trying to compare himself to Sardar Patel, who was popularly known as Loh Purush.

Incidentally, the Congress has even compared Modi with a monkey, but this is the first time during campaigning for the coming elections that a Congress leader has targeted the CM over the 2002 riots.

“Gujarat is languishing under Modi’s rule. Gujarat was ruled by Congress party in the past. Now it is ruled by a ‘Lahu Purush’,” Aiyar said addressing a public meeting at Khambhalia in Jamnagar.
Later, addressing a public meeting in Porbandar, the former minister likened chief minister Modi to Ravana.

Chief minister Narendra Modi also made remarks about Congress president Sonia Gandhi, prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi in the past few weeks. If these events are any indicator, the campaigning can hardly be expected to be pleasant.
Aiyar was among the host of leaders who descended in Gujarat on Sunday and addressed public meetings across ten districts to formally launch the Congress’s poll campaign.

At a public meet in Junagadh, firebrand Congress leader Renuka Chaudhary said that it will be of great benefit for people of the state if Modi is removed from power. She also took potshots at Modi saying development in the state was taking place much before him.

AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes, secretary Ashok Tanwar, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi, union ministers Dinsha Patel, Bharatsinh Solanki, Tushar Chaudhari, K Rehman Khan, state Congress president Arjun Modhwadia, former CM Shankarsinh Vaghela, were the other leaders who addressed public meetings in ten districts.

They tore into the development claims of the chief minister, and appealed citizens to vote for change in the elections.