Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for calling the GST 'Gabbar Singh Tax', and said those who looted the country could only think of dacoits.
As the Congress vice president today visited the Somnath temple, Modi told his audience that Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi's great grand father, was "unhappy" when Sardar Patel took up the temple's reconstruction in 1950s.
Modi addressed four rallies -- three in Saurashtra and one in Navsari in South Gujarat. He stopped his speech for about two minutes when 'aazan', the call for Muslims to offer Namaz, was recited during his Navsari rally.
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In a stinging rebuttal of Gandhi's repeated criticism of the Goods and Services Tax, a key economic reform implemented by the NDA government, Modi said a recently emerged "economist" was propagating a "grand stupid thought" by suggesting that GST rate be capped at 18 per cent.
Modi also accused the Congress of blocking the bill giving OBC Commission a constitutional status.
Campaigning in his home state where the BJP is in power for close to two decades, Modi listed various development works by the state government for water conservation, agriculture and development of the Saurashtra region.
Addressing a huge rally in Morbi town in the region, which goes to polls in the first phase on December 9, he accused the Congress of taking credit for minor schemes like providing hand-pumps, while the BJP government got executed major works like the Narmada project.
Making a strong appeal to people to vote for the BJP in the Patidar community stronghold, Modi said his party should not be voted out for 100 years.
"Today, some so-called smart people, some new economists have emerged who are misleading people," he said in his speech in Gujarati.
"Those who have looted people throughout their life, they can only remember dacoits," Modi said, in a reply to Gandhi's ''Gabbar Singh Tax' jibe which referred to the iconic villain of the Bollywood blockbuster "Sholay".
Gandhi was propagating a "grand stupid thought" in the name of GST, telling people that Congress will scrap all tax rates and bring a uniform 18 per cent rate, the PM said.
This meant 18 per cent tax on salt and the same 18 per cent tax on luxury cars costing Rs 5 crore, Modi stated.
"What kind of smartness is this... how has such an economist emerged here. You want to make the goods used by the poor like clothes, footwear and food costlier, and you want to make cigarettes and liquor cheaper," he said, ripping into the "anti-poor" Congress over its criticism of the tax reform.
The prime minister went on to say that making cigarettes cheaper means bringing cancer to every home, and asked which rich businessmen the opposition leader sought to extend benefit to by making liquor cheaper.
He also brought up a visit by Rahul Gandhi's grandmother, the late Indira Gandhi, in 1979.
Recalling the Macchu dam flood tragedy of 1979 in Morbi, the prime minister said he had spent one month working in the town after the disaster as an RSS and Jan Sangh worker.
"I remember Indira Gandhi had come here and Chitralekha (a local magazine) had printed her photo with a handkerchief over her nose, trying to avoid the stench, while another photo on the same front page had RSS workers carrying bodies," Modi said.
"Those who have helped us in times of difficulties should be remembered," he added.
Speaking at Pranchi in Gir Somanth district, Modi said that Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed the re-construction of the Somnath temple. Rahul Gandhi today visited the Somnath temple before starting his two-day campaign tour.
"When Sardar Patel took up the work of re-construction of Somnath temple, Nehru was unhappy. Your great grand father Nehru wrote a letter to President Rajendra Prasad when he was to come for the opening ceremony of the temple," Modi said.
"This land of brave people will not forgive those who have acted against the Somnath temple," he said.
He said the family that ruled the country for 70 years, but cannot give account of what it did for the nation, should not seek account of the performance of the BJP government.
Gandhi said OBC communities were demanding constitutional status for the OBC commission for the last 25 years but the Gandhi family was unyielding.
"You are trying to spread the poison of casteism and trying to get votes on the basis of caste and gaining sympathy of OBC communities," Modi said.
"When we brought the bill, you opposed it in the Rajya Sabha. But we will not stop, we will bring it in next session. We will bring it 50 times," he said.
Modi noted how his government worked to bring the water of the Narmada to the parched regions of Saurashtra and Kutch.
"The Congress's development model was giving hand-pumps. For the BJP it is the SAUNI scheme (the Narmada water project for Saurashtra region), where we will fill dams of Saurashtra through huge pipelines."
The culture of this parched land, Modi said, was to give respect to those who have tried to do something to provide water.
"The BJP has done many things and it should not be thrown out of power in the state for the next 100 years," Modi said.
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