Sonia fires election salvo at Modi from Meham

MEHAM (Haryana): Sonia Gandhi kicked off the Congress party's election campaign in Haryana with a sharp attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telling a gathering that promises made during the parliamentary polls had been busted within his 100-days in power.

"Jo chillata bahut hai, woh sachcha nahin hota (A person who screams a lot is not truthful)," she told a rally, targeting Modi without naming him once in her first rally for the October 15 elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The Congress chief said BJP government had failed to deliver any of its poll promises - taming inflation, returning black money from abroad, generating employment - and was instead pinching schemes launched by the UPA to corner credit. This, when Modi campaigned in elections by projecting that nothing had happened after independence and he had a magic wand to deliver results.

"They used to mock our schemes when UPA was in power but are now changing names of our schemes to seek credit for them," she said.

The frontal attack on Modi and BJP laid bare the Haryana battleground where the saffron outfit has emerged a serious player after sweeping seven of the 10 Lok Sabha seats. Congress's own plight is evident from the fact that the campaign was kicked off in Meham in Rohtak, the sole seat that Congress managed to win in the Lok Sabha polls.

In a short 10-minute speech to what was a good and responsive gathering, Sonia sought to paint BJP and INLD of Om Prakash Chautala as post-poll allies, warning that the saffron outfit was a peddler of false promises as it did in parliamentary polls and its handshake with the INLD would bring in lawlessness. While she did not name any party, she left no ambiguity either.

"Please beware of parties who are fighting elections separately but would join hands after the polls," she said about the rivals.

Sonia's insinuation of 'lawlessness' against the INLD is important given the political backdrop of Meham. It was the Chautala regime of 1990 which saw unprecedented poll violence that made "mayhem in meham" a cliched pun in national headlines. If Sonia tried to project BJP and INLD as friends masquerading as enemies, a strong reason is also seen in the continuing warmth between saffron Punjab ally Akali Dal and Chautala's outfit.

"You would remember that you elected Congress ten years ago because of the atmosphere of fear, terror in the state," she said before targeting BJP and INLD together by stating, "Those who do nothing but extortion and casteism cannot do anything.... Those who are extending false promises have nothing to do with you."

Focussing on Modi, Sonia said nation-building was a long drawn process which calls for sacrifices from all but "BJP was projecting as if everything was being done by them and everything was happening for the first time".

Accompanied by AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, secretary Ashka Kumari, CM Bhupinder Hooda, HPCC president Ashok Tanwar and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, Congress president stayed on the venue for around 45 minutes before proceeding further to Sirsa.

It was after three decades that someone from the Gandhi family has visited Mehem to address a political rally. Earlier in the late 80s, Rajiv Gandhi had come to Meham to support current MLA and Congress candidate from Meham Anand Singh Dangi.

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