Sonia slams Modi for using martyr's slogan, says he only wants the chair

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for levelling "unfounded corruption charges" against her party and questioned as to why Lokayukta was not appointed in Gujarat for ten years.

"Instead of pointing an accusing finger at others, BJP campaign chief should introspect and find an answer to the question as to why Lokayukta was not appointed in Gujarat for ten years. Was it not to hide the misdeeds of his government?" she asked at an election rally in Roorkee in Uttarakhand.

"Modi should see when he shows an accusing finger at others where do his other fingers point," she said.

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So far as the Congress is concerned, Gandhi said, it gave the people the powerful anti-corruption tool of Right To Information.

Earlier, addressing a rally in Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, she criticised Modi for using a martyr's name during his campaign in the state last week.

She said he used the catchword of Kargil martyr Capt Vikram Batra 'Yeh dil maange more (this heart wants more)' only for "the prime minister's chair".

"Unka dil sirf kursi maang raha hai (Modi's heart wants only the chair)," she said, adding it amounted to insult to martyrs.

In her rallies, Gandhi took a jibe at the "tone and tenor" of the speeches of Modi, saying he was speaking as if he had already won the chair of prime minister while election results are yet to be declared.

From what Modi says at his rallies it seems he is under an illusion that the poll verdict is out, she said.

"In his feverish pursuit of power, Modi seems to have lost sight of an important fact that people are yet to deliver their judgment," she said to loud cheers from the audience.

Asking people to understand the difference between divisive and inclusive politics, Gandhi appealed to them to vote for the Congress whose vision of growth encompasses all sections of the society.

Striking an emotional chord with the voters of Uttarakhand, she said it was hard to forget the disturbing images of the devastation that the hill state suffered in landslides and floods last year.

She said it was due to prioritisation of reconstruction efforts by the state government led by Harish Rawat that yatra to three of the four Himalayan shrines has begun.

Listing out the achievements of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in the past 10 years, the Congress president said,

"Unlike the BJP, we do not make false promises and do what we promise."

Gandhi said the UPA government gave the Right to Education, introduced midday meal scheme, passed Food Security Act to ensure food to people and brought Right to Information Act which gave a weapon to people in exposing many cases of corruption.

To protect the interests of farmers, the Land Acquisition Act was passed and now the lands of farmers cannot be acquired without their consent and they would be entitled to full compensation, she said.

Gandhi promised free medicines and treatment to poor and pensions to disabled, old age people and destitute.

Image: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi