Modi blows own trumpet, heaps sarcasm on state

NAGPUR: Hindutva poster boy Narendra Modi on Friday portrayed Gujarat to be a virtually a state within the state as he trumpeted the achievements of his reign while taking swipes at Maharashtra and the Centre.


"Have you heard of a treaty between a country and a province of another country. Certainly not, but it happened in Gujarat. Powerful economies like Canada and Japan have partnered with Gujarat in its economic ventures. This has led to an investment commitment of almost Rs 21,00,000 crore through the Vibrant Gujarat summit. Heads of states and ministers from 109 countries gathered at Gujarat for it. Does it happen in Delhi," he asked. Modi was addressing a function in city to mark the golden jubilee year of formation of Gujarat organised by the local Gujarati community.


Attempting to project Gujarat as larger than country, he said even India had reached 50 years of its independence but the event went unnoticed while celebrations of Gujarat's 50th year seem to be surpassing all records. Speaking in Gujarati, Modi used the typical Amdvadadi jargon to take swipes at the Centre and other Congress-ruled states.


He said "mey badha booch band karee karee deedha che, chowkidar banee ne baitho choo ke koi Panjo nahin mari sake," (I have corked all the holes, so that no 'hand' can dare to grab the treasure), a clear reference to keeping Congress at bay from his state. He did not spare even Mahatma Gandhi. "Giving is in Gujarati culture, we have learnt from Gandhiji to give away everything, (indirect reference to conceding to the demand of Pakistan)," he said.


He quickly added that even Sardar Patel, the Gujarati ideal appropriated by BJP, had the same quality of being generous. The comment came as he said that Gujarat had now become a power surplus state and was supplying electricity to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.


Taking at a dig at Maharashtra from which Gujarat was carved out, he asserted his state had left the big brother far behind. "Does anyone have a health card in your state? In my state every farmer has a health card for his soil. We have cataract and dental treatment camps for cattle, you must be having it for humans in your state," he said condescendingly.


"When it was formed, all Gujarat had was a registan (desert) and Pakistan beyond that. Look now the very dry state has clocked a 9.6% agriculture growth while the country is still half way to the 4% target set a couple decades ago," said Modi to an applause. He said after the green revolution in the farms and white revolution with Amul, now its time to colour Gujarat with saffron and complete the tricolour. Saffron stands for energy, Modi pointed out even as the audience chanted BJP!


"Every village in Gujarat has uninterrupted power supply and a few minutes of power cuts make headlines saying darkness in Modi's land. I am sure here it makes news when there is a short period of power supply after days of darkness," he said ridiculing the load-shedding that persists in Maharashtra.


Modi exhorted the local Gujaratis to donate generously for his dream project of erecting a statue of Sardar Patel that would be double the size of Statue of Liberty. It would be called the Statue of Unity. "Eh to janta na Sardar hata nake koi sarkari sardar (Patel was a Sardar of masses and not a government-anointed Sardar)," Modi said in one last sarcastic comment about Centre.