In first public remarks after the arrest of his minister Amit Shah in connection with the 2005 killing of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Chief Minister Narendra Modi today took a swipe at the Congress and CBI, saying the next civic elections in Gujarat would not see any Congress candidates since their place would have been taken by CBI officers.
"Ame Gujarat na loko koi ne chhedata nathi, pan jo chhedsho to chhodishu nahin (we, the people of Gujarat, don't provoke anyone, but if provoked, will not spare them)" Modi told a public meeting. "There is no hope for the Congress unless they take the help of CBI. The developments last week (the arrest of Shah) prove the Congress has nothing to win the hearts of the people of Gujarat."
Modi said there had been no riot in Gujarat during the annual Rath Yatra since 2001 but under Congress rule, there were at least two or three riots
every decade. "Then, the first word a toddler used to learn was curfew. Now, not even an 80-year-old knows how to say curfew," he said.
Inaugurating the Rs 33-crore Bhairon Singh Shekhawat bridge on the Narol-Naroda Highway near Ahmedabad, Modi took a dig at the Congress government in Delhi: "The Delhi government has been working on the Commonwealth Games for four years but there are no tangible results. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation could have completed the work in two years."
"The prestige of Delhi has been shredded, thanks to the tardy work. Even the BRTS failed in Delhi while it has been a success in Gujarat."
"There has to be an atmosphere for healthy growth. And it has only existed in Gujarat because Delhi does not have a leader who can provide such an environment," he said.
On the issue of reservation, Modi said the Congress was playing a "dangerous game" by dividing the share of reservation for OBCs by granting them to religious converts. "Beware of the Congress. They have one mantra - divisive politics. And I have only one mantra - development, development, development," he said.
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