: Smack in the middle of the national election that many believe it can't win, the Congress has taken to a new line of offensive to target Narendra Modi, using his own party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Mr Vajpayee's image was prominent on the Congress' official website today, with a message that invoked the former prime minister's words in 2002, during the riots in Mr Modi's Gujarat.

"Modi did not follow Rajdharma (A ruler's duty)", said the Congress' ad, calling it the fundamental cause of Mr Vajpayee's pain.

Top Stories

NDTV opinion poll: BJP and allies cross 272 mark

This is not family tea-party, it's ideological war: Priyanka on Varun

Scared of Modi, but Rajnath like Vajpayee: top Shia cleric

Election Commission officials heckled in West Bengal

Congress' new slogan should be 'Mein nahin Mom' says Jaitley

Narendra Modi becoming PM is fantasy: Mamata Banerjee

In Varanasi, Arvind Kejriwal faces a poster war

BJP's Smriti Irani to file her nomination papers on Wednesday from Amethi

Sonia Gandhi says BJP will ruin 'Bhartiyata', BJP says let her learn it first

NDTV opinion poll: Jayalalithaa to be dominant player but DMK makes gains in Tamil Nadu

NDTV opinion poll: Karnataka to bring some cheer to Congress

NDTV's opinion poll: huge sweep for BJP in Rajasthan

Opinion: How compelling could Priyanka, the politician, be?

Opinion: Anticipating Modi's victory are two distinct groups

Parties

AIADMK

Akali Dal

Bahujan Samaj Party

BJP

Congress

CPI

CPM

DMK

Janata Dal Secular

Janata Dal United

National Conference

Samajwadi Party

Shiv Sena

Trinamool Congress

You are here: Home » Elections » News
Congress ad invokes Vajpayee to target Narendra Modi

Edited by Deepshikha Ghosh | Updated: April 11, 2014 14:17 IST
submit to reddit
email
Ads by Google

Buy Homes in Noida – 2-3 BHK Homes starting at 30 Lac. Project By KV Developers. Book Now

kvdwindpark.com/Homes-in-Noida
Congress ad invokes Vajpayee to target Narendra Modi

Congress ad invokes Atal Behari Vajpayee to target Narendra Modi
New Delhi: Smack in the middle of the national election that many believe it can't win, the Congress has taken to a new line of offensive to target Narendra Modi, using his own party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Mr Vajpayee's image was prominent on the Congress' official website today, with a message that invoked the former prime minister's words in 2002, during the riots in Mr Modi's Gujarat.

"Modi did not follow Rajdharma (A ruler's duty)", said the Congress' ad, calling it the fundamental cause of Mr Vajpayee's pain.

"Just think! Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vapayee did not think this man deserved to be chief minister, can you put the country's future in his hands?" says the ad.

The BJP's Nirmala Sitharaman said, "They are so weak they now need brownie points from Vajpayee. It clearly shows they are frustrated and will go to any length to stop Modi."

Mr Vajpayee, 89, considered the BJP's tallest leader, retired from active politics in 2006. He was Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004.

During the Gujarat violence in February, 2002, Mr Vajpayee had reportedly told Mr Modi, the Chief Minister, that "Rajdharma should be followed."
Mr Modi's critics say he didn't do enough to check the violence that left nearly 1,000 dead, mostly Muslims. A Supreme Court monitored inquiry said it found no evidence of Mr Modi's role in the riots, an assessment that was upheld by a trial court last year
The Congress website says: "No leader in the BJP can match the stature of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mr Vajpayee was clear what was the reason for the defeat. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's failure to control the communal pogrom in his state in 2002. He believed that the party will lose its credibility unless it took action against Mr Modi. (sic)"

The party goes on to quote Jaswant Singh, a former minister who was close to Mr Vajpayee, as saying that Mr Vajpayee had threatened to resign unless the BJP took action against Mr Modi.@ NSTV