Modi will Next portray himself as Ram to win assembly polls, says Congress.
Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi is again at the centre of a controversy following the publication of an advertisement in a local Gujarati daily depicting him as Lord Krishna and state BJP chief RC Faldu as Arjun.
The advertisement shows Rajya Sabha MP and national vice-president of the BJP Purushottam Rupala as Bhim; former minister and BJP spokesperson IK Jadeja as Sahdev; in-charge of the Yatra and former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Rupani as Yudhisthir; and recently elected Rajya Sabha MP Manshukh Mandaviya as Nakul.
The advertisement was released ahead of the BJP's Kisan Hit Yatra (farmers welfare rally) that began on Friday in Saurashtra region of the state. The party has taken out the Yatra to make farmers aware of the allegedly anti-farmer policies of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. Faldu flagged it off on Friday in the presence of Modi from the Agriculture Market Yard of Rajkot. The Yatra will travel to different places in the farmer-dominated Saurashtra region.
The advertisement, put out by the BJP's Amreli district unit president Dr Bharat Kanabar, evoked criticism from the Congress which alleged that Modi was doing all this to win the assembly elections. Assembly polls in Gujarat are due later this year.
"Narendra Modi is fooling the people. He is doing this only to win the elections. He has portrayed himself as Krishna now. Next he will become Ram, Rahim ...he will do something or the other," said Congress leader Narhari Amin.
However, Dr Bharat Kanabar found nothing unusual or controversial in the advertisement. "We are not going to say and compare Modi with Lord Krishna. But his role in Gujarat and the BJP is that of a philosopher, guide and visionary similar to that of Lord Krishna in Mahabharata," said Kanabar while talking to DNA.
"It is the right time to make the people aware of the anti-farmer policies of the Congress-led UPA government through our Kisan Hit Yatra," said the BJP leader.
Senior BJP leaders of the state too did not find anything objectionable about the advertisement. "Those who want to protest can protest. When an elephant passes by, there are always those who bark. Let them bark. We have been doing our work for the people and will keep doing so," said Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala said.
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