BJP lashes out PM over attack on Modi, says media interaction highlights UPA failures

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh on Friday strongly condemned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "personal" attack on his party's prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Asked for a reaction to the Prime Minister's pointedly aggressive statement that it would be disastrous for India if Modi becomes the Prime Minister, Rajnath Singh said: "I condemn it with all the strength at my command. I am surprised at the need for making such a statement at all in the first place."

"The Prime Minister needs to be reminded that under Narendra Modi's watch, the state of Gujarat has emerged as a role model for other states, and has brilliant and a landmark economic achievements to its credit," Singh added.

"As far as his reference to Modi's role in the Godhra carnage of 2002, I only wish to emphatically state that when the courts in Gujarat have exonerated him, the Supreme Court of India has declared him not guilty, and the CBI has cleared him of all charges, and he (Modi) himself has explained in his blog about the helpless circumstance he was placed in at that time, then where is the question of blaming him for it even after twelve years?" asked Rajnath Singh.

The BJP president also labelled Prime Minister Singh's interaction with the media as an event that showcased the failures of the UPA Government, and added that his statement comparing performance of his government with the NDA Government was surprising.

"I think he called this press conference, not to highlight his achievements, but to show his failures," he said.

"He said that the UPA Government performed better than the NDA Government. I think it is surprising statement because he should consider the growth rate, and the fact that India was a Current Account Surplus country during NDA regime. But during his government's regime, Growth rate fell sharply and India became a Current Account Deficit country."

Reacting to Dr. Singh regret about not being able to stop corruption and inflation, and also not being able to create ample job opportunities during his tenure as the Prime Minister, Rajnath asked why was his government still in power if they are not able to stop corruption and create more jobs.

"The job of the government is to provide relief to citizens. They have failed on these issues," he added.

"Interestingly, the Prime Minister did not raise the issue of national security, where his government has failed completely. Nor, did he mention the steps taken to tackle both internal and external challenges," he said.