Mud-slinging won’t work: Modi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25

The BJP is sensing a "maut ka saudagar" moment in Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's "PM chor hai" allegation against PM Narendra Modi. 

Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh elections, PM Modi, launching a fierce attack against the Congress from Bhopal, said the Opposition party had used all abuses against him. The Congress found "mud-slinging" easier than debating issues (an apparent reference to Gandhi's allegations on the Rafale deal) but such attempts to defame him in the past two decades had not worked, he said.

"Ever since I came into politics in 2001, you (Congress) have used all your strength to hurl abuses at me. There would not be a single abuse left in the dictionary now. However, the more mud you threw, the more the lotus bloomed," the PM was quoted as saying.

Notably, in 2007, then Congress president Sonia Gandhi used the phrase "maut ka saudagar" against Modi, the then Gujarat CM. A few years later, her son Rahul Gandhi accused him of indulging in "khoon ki dalali", again triggering off a massive political controversy. The BJP believes such phrases have actually worked to the benefit of Modi.

The PM said the Congress was unable to accept that a 'chai wala' (that is him) or son of a poor mother like Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and UP CM Yogi Adityanath could attain power.

Implying an international controversy against him and the BJP, he said the Congress had failed to forge an alliance in the country and was, therefore, seeking support from outside India. "Even if they get allies, the coalition will not be successful. So, they (Congress) are looking for support from outside India," he said.