Trashing allegations of illegal snooping against Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday ruled out the Congress’s demand for a rethink on its prime ministerial candidate and claimed that the ruling party's "dirty tricks wing" was behind the controversy.
"There is no question of doing a rethink on our prime ministerial candidate even if a thousand baseless allegations of this kind are made against Narendra Modi. We had already said much earlier that we apprehend that the dirty tricks wing of the Congress will make such baseless allegations against Modi as the elections draw near," BJP President Rajnath Singh told reporters.
He was responding to Law Minister Kapil Sibal's statement on Friday -- that the BJP will be forced to rethink its prime ministerial candidate as the charges are very serious.
"Instead of making these allegations, the Congress should clarify as to who is its prime ministerial candidate," Singh said.
He also wondered how web portal Cobrapost got the call details when Indian Police Service officer G L Singhal, who conducted the illegal surveillance, had handed over the records to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
"Singhal had got bail with the CBI’s support. He was also involved in the Tulsi Prajapati encounter case but he still got bail," Singh said.
The BJP president pointed out that Cobrapost has admitted that it cannot make any claims about the authenticity of the CD.
"The girl's father has also given a statement that he had asked Modi, with whom he has family relations, to ensure the security for his daughter. The head of the government is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the people. Modi was only performing his dharma," Singh said.
Modi's close aide and former minister of state for home Amit Shah was on Friday accused of misusing his powers and police machinery to conduct illegal surveillance of a young woman in
2009.
The allegations were made at a press conference, along with the release of tapped telephonic conversations, purportedly between Shah and IPS officer G L Singhal, which two investigative portals claimed have been submitted before CBI in connection to the Ishrat Jahan murder case.
Senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu claimed that the Congress was rattled as it had sensed the mood of the people against it.
"Sensing the mood of the people, they are rattled. They are desperate and are not able to digest the growing upsurge in favour of Narendra bhai Modi and the BJP," he told reporters in Bangalore.
The BJP's reaction comes a day after Congress said the saffron party will be forced to rethink its prime ministerial candidate if snooping allegations against the former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah were true.
"Somebody says something and suddenly they jump the gun and say the BJP should rethink Modi's candidature," Naidu said, though he made no direct reference to the claims of the portals.
Accusing the Congress of adopting "dirty tricks" as it had no answer to Modi, Naidu said, "Sibal has already jumped the gun, suggesting the BJP should rethink about its PM candidate.
"I am suggesting that Kapil Sibal and his party should rethink about its continuance and follow Mahatma Gandhi's advice and disband the Congress. Better late than never because it (Congress) has outlived its purpose, it has no stamina, it has no ideology, it has no agenda and it has no leadership," he said.
Accusing the Congress of crossing "all limits" of decency, Naidu said it was trying to bring down the level of public debate.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called for maintaining decency in public debate, but "we would urge him to first introspect and discuss what his party is doing," he said.
The Congress President had called Modi "maut ka saudagar" (merchant of death), its general secretary called him 'a megalomaniac psychopath liar', one spokesman called him 'Yamadharma Raja' and another dubbed him 'Ravana', Naidu said.
"Every Tom, Dick and Harry (in Congress) makes idiotic statements abusing a leader (Modi) who is the darling of the masses," the BJP leader said, also flaying the Congress for calling the Gujarat chief minister a "fascist".
"Who is more fascist than you Congressmen," Naidu said, alleging it was the Congress which imposed the Emergency, "murdered" democracy, introduced press censorship, imprisoned
Jayaprakash Narayan and crippled fundamental rights.
"So, fascism is your monopoly. Nobody else can think of it," he said.
Naidu said the Congress would go to any extent and in the coming days, it would "stoop down further" and make issues out of non-issues.
"They will bring in communalism and extraneous issues" and further misuse CBI, the income tax department, Intelligence Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate, he said.
"The mood of India (in favour of Modi and BJP) is irreversible," he said, asserting that his party would secure a "massive mandate" in the Lok Sabha polls.
Naidu also hit back at Congress leaders for ridiculing Modi for some gaffes, saying "Modi knows history better than all Congressmen put together. If there is a slip of the tongue, he (Modi) has corrected himself."
