Narendra Modi’s Rs1,880 crore war on Congress

A day after raking up a storm by claiming that Rs1,880 crore of public funds was spent on the foreign trips of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday stuck to his ground, and questioned the UPA government’s silence on the issue.

“People of the country have a right to know if public funds have been spent for the foreign trips of Sonia Gandhi. If public money has been spent, the Centre should acknowledge it,” the BJP leader said while addressing a gathering in Gandhinagar.

Modi questioned why the central government had not rejected the newspaper report that claimed Rs1,880 crore were spent on Sonia’s foreign visits. He demanded that details of the money spent on the Congress president’s foreign tours be made public.

The questions have come up just a day before Sonia Gandhi launches her party’s election campaign in the state by addressing a farmers’ rally in Rajkot. Needless to say, the focus has shifted from Sonia’s visit to this controversy.

Modi further said, “If you want to shut Modi’s mouth, then make public the details about Sonia Gandhi’s foreign tours since the time Manmohan Singh government came to power in 2004.”

He also took a dig at the UPA government saying that three years had passed since an RTI application was filed seeking details on the matter, but the information is not being provided. “When attempt is made to hide things, one feels something is fishy,” he added.

Modi made the allegations about the expenditure on Gandhi’s foreign trips on Monday. He said that it was based on the government’s response to an RTI application filed by a person from Hisar in Haryana that was published in a newspaper on July 12. However, the RTI applicant, Ramesh Sharma, questioned the figures saying he had not received any reply to his query.

Meanwhile in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, rubbished Modi’s claims as “wild, baseless and untrue’ statements. “These reflect the mindset and character of a person who has taken the low road, and we do not want to dignify his lies by a rejoinder,” he said.

Amid persistent questioning by media-persons, Tewari ducked questions such as who has spent the money.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh too hit out at Modi saying he has been trained well by the RSS in the Nazi tradition of false propaganda. He said, “The Sangh training to its cadre is Jhoot bolo zor se bolo aur baar baar bolo (Tell a lie, tell it loudly and tell it hundred times). Doesn’t it remind you of Hitler’s Goebbels?”