Nanded/Amravati: BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi taunted Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Sunday for giving tickets to “tainted” politicians like former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, and accused NCP supremo Sharad Pawar of failing to stop farmers’ suicides.
Mr Modi said that after his government comes to power, he would set up special courts to try corrupt politicians. “All pending cases of serious crimes against political leaders will be disposed of in a year. Those wrongly framed will be exonerated. Those guilty will be punished. I won’t differentiate between representatives from the Opposition or ruling parties. Nobody will be spared.”
Addressing a rally at Nanded, he said the Congress was “shameless” for saying no law stopped Mr Chavan from contesting.
Accusing Mr Gandhi of shielding the corrupt, Mr Modi said, “When the Adarsh commission indicted Mr Chavan, you said you would not compromise with corruption. You promised to take action. Is giving a ticket taking action?”
In Amravati, Mr Modi said Mr Pawar had done little to save farmers in the area, which has seen several suicides, urging voters to free India and Maharashtra of the NCP. “The agriculture minister is from here, yet he is unable to save farmers. He has time to talk on cricket, but not for farmers,” he said.
After Ashok Chavan entered the fray, even the BJP supporters thought that the BJP candidate stood no chance in Nanded. However, the atmosphere created by Mr Modi’s rally has brought BJP’s D.B. Patil back in the race.
“I told Mr Patil that he is back in the reckoning. Now, he has to maintain this momentum with an aggressive campaign,” Shiv Sena MP from Aurangabad Chandrakant Khaire said.
