Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the central theme of discourse for both the BJP and the Congress as a bitter campaign for power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh ended on Wednesday evening.
While the BJP has assiduously kept focus away from their local leadership in all the election-going states, seeking votes in the name of the Prime Minister alone, the Congress’s response was a strategy to dismantle Modi’s image as he remains the only slogan and face of a party that once boasted many regional leaders. No matter how much the BJP dislikes it, the outcome of these elections will indeed reflect on the currency of the Modi name.
Addressing a public rally in Chhattisgarh, BJP president J.P. Nadda said: “Modi ke raj me desh tarakki kar raha hai ki nahin (The country is progressing under Modi or not)? Do you want Modi to return as the Prime Minister in 2024 or not? India is developing in every sphere under Modi. In 2027-28, India will become the third-largest economy, 80 crore people are getting free foodgrains. 97 per cent mobile phones are manufactured in India.”
Home minister Amit Shah, who was also in Chhattisgarh, asked voters whether they wanted to make Modi the Prime Minister again or not, reminding them how he performed the “bhumi pujan” for the Ram temple at Ayodhya and will again do the “pran pratishtha” later in January. He gave credit to Modi for the temple, arguing that the Congress created hurdles for the Ayodhya project for decades.
“Mujhe batao Ayodhya mein Ram Mandir banana chahiye ki nahin (Tell me whether Ram temple should be built in Ayodhya or not)?” Shah asked, miming Modi’s style, knowing well that the answer would only be in the affirmative. He also said: “People won’t have to spend any money on seeing the Ram temple. Vote for the BJP and the new government will take you to Ayodhya in batches.”
Accusing the Congress of indulging in the politics of appeasement, Shah also recalled Modi’s surgical strike in Pakistan, pointing out how “Alia, Malia, Jamalia” entered India and created terror. Much like Nadda, he too referred to the Mahadev App controversy to jab Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as corrupt. Nadda said the Congress was not only corrupt, but also evil.
The Congress wasn’t to be left behind. Campaigning in Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhi knocked the Prime Minister’s credibility as the BJP is relying on “Modi’s guarantee” to sail through in the absence of any local leader. He said: “Modi’s guarantee means Adani can take whatever he wants. Mines, ports, airports… whatever. Modi’s guarantee means gas cylinder for Rs 1,100. Modi’s guarantee means loan waiver for industrialists and unemployment for youth.”
Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said: “Modi has top class understanding of people. Duniyan bhar ke gaddaron aur kaayron ko ikattha karke apni party mein le liye (He has accommodated all the traitors and cowards in his party). I feel pity for the RSS-BJP workers. Who knows this army of traitors and cowards will lead the BJP one day.”
Her reference was to the rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia. She said: “Their leaders are strange. You know Scindia ji. I worked with him in Uttar Pradesh. What happened… he was smaller in height (than me) but what arrogance! We in Uttar Pradesh are accustomed to express our views, our grievances freely. We don’t have the habit of calling anybody maharaj. But party workers were forced to call him maharaj. If you don’t, no question of a positive response.”
Subtly hinting at the history of the Scindias’ betrayals, she added: “However, he has adhered to his family tradition well. Many people have betrayed us but he betrayed the people of Gwalior-Chambal region. He stabbed you in the back. The government you made was pulled down by him. He cheated you.”
Pouring sarcasm on the Prime Minister, Priyanka said: “There was a Salman Khan movie — Tere Naam — in which he kept crying from the start to the end. There should be a film on Modi — Mere Naam — as he also keeps crying. He went to Karnataka and said the Congress is abusing me. Here also, he was crying that the Congress is abusing him. He is India’s first Prime Minister who is so completely obsessed with himself.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who was in Madhya Pradesh, asked Modi to concentrate on his duties as Prime Minister instead of roaming about poll-bound states like an MLA. Kharge accused the BJP of running “commission governments” everywhere — 40 per cent in Karnataka and 50 per cent in Madhya Pradesh — and working for big corporate interests. He recalled the myriad scams that happened in Madhya Pradesh in their 18-year rule.
Modi himself chose to be in Rajasthan on Wednesday, where voting will take place on November 25. He flagged “crimes against women” and boasted of how he would make their lives easier by constructing toilets and giving free gas connections. Persisting with his dog-whistle politics, he said rioters and terrorists get active in the Congress rule. He even said that celebrating festivals had become difficult in Rajasthan because of “rioting, stone-pelting and curfews”.
