Narendra Modi attacks UPA, says 'rid country of autocratic Congress government'

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the people to oust the "autocratic" Congress government.

Modi, chairman of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) election campaign panel, took jibes at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

"Congress 'ek nirankush party hai' (the Congress is an autocratic party). There are two pradhans in Delhi. I don't know which one is real," Modi said about Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.

Modi was addressing his first public rally after his elevation in the BJP.

The sankalp rally was held to mark the 60th death anniversary of Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in this town on the Punjab-Jammu and Kashmir border.

"The future of the people of this country is not secure in the hands of the Congress. I want to ask the prime minister how is he running the country. We cannot let this country fall into more danger," Modi said.

"We (BJP) unite people. We unite parties and hearts. We do not do vote-bank politics," he said.

He added that the UPA government had failed to take any strong steps on issues like the killing of Sarabjit Singh (in a Lahore prison), the beheading of Indian soldiers or the killing of poor fishermen close to the Kerala coast by Italian marines.

"Questions are being raised about why the accused in the Purulia arms-drop case are still roaming around scot-free in their own country. What are we (government) doing?" Modi said.

He said the UPA government had failed to provide adequate employment to youth.

"They have not been able to provide even half the number of jobs provided during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government (1999-2004)," he said.

"Had the Vajpayee government come back to power in the 2004 general elections, the issue would have been addressed. Things would have been different in Kashmir now. Kashmiri Pandits would have got their rights and respect. The youth of Kashmir would have been part of the national mainstream," Modi said.

He said that Mookerjee had always fought against the "do vidhan, do pradhan" (two constitutions, two leaders) concept related to Jammu and Kashmir and even sacrificed his life for the cause.

"Like Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, we also want to rid the country of the two pradhans (in the UPA government)," Modi said.

The BJP leader said that Mookerjee had become a martyr to maintain unity of the country. "Questions are being raised even today on how he died mysteriously. No one had heard of ill-health before he died," Modi said.

He said that three top leaders of the country's first government — Sardar Patel, Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mookerjee — had their independent voice in the Jawaharlal Nehru government. "They all left the government one by one. Nehru never liked them," he added.

While the entire top national leadership of the BJP did not attend the rally, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and BJP leader Shanta Kumar were present.