Advani is everyone's mentor, says Modi at Bhopal rally

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi praises senior BJP leader LK Advani saying he is everyone's mentor.

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2:12 pm: BJP Vice President Uma Bharati targets Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul saying, "'Ram rajya' comes with calling the poor and the dalit to our homes and giving them respect instead of going to the homes of dalits and have food."

She adds development is when the poor sits on a chair in shade and the administrative officers stand in front of the poor with folded hands.

She also refers to her expulsion from the BJP for some years. She says, "Advaniji had at that time appreciated me for hoisting tiranga at Hubli. I told him that Advaniji if you tell me, I will go and hoist tiranga at Lahore and Karanchi."

1:56 pm: BJP President Rajnath Singh praises Shivraj Singh Chouhan saying, "Shivraj is a public servant, not a ruler." Attacking the Congress over corruption, price rise, he says, "The Congress-led government has broken its own records of corruption one after the other."

He adds no leader in the NDA has been involved in such serious corruption charges. Referring to the statement of RSS leader Bhavesh Kumar, Rajnath says, "Bhavesh has openly said that he has put the blame on RSS leaders Mohan Bhagwat and Indresh Kumar under Congress' pressure." He adds, "The BJP will win only when party workers will work hard."

1:48 pm: Senior leader LK Advani is the first BJP leader to address the rally. He praises Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying he is the first chief minister to provide 24X7 electricity and it is followed by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. He hits out at the UPA government saying, "UPA cannot even dream of comparing to the NDA regime."

He even sounded confident of winning Lok Sabha elections and says, "We will win elections based on our good work. No party can be compared with us." Showcasing the party's strength as many senior leaders were present in the rally, he says, "This get together is not a signal just to India but to the world. Not only the senior BJP leaders but the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is also present at this rally."

Terming the rally as 'mahakumbh', he says people have come from all over the country. He says, "The BJP will give India a stable government at the Centre. We have achieved our current status by action not speeches." All the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders shared the stage at the party's Bhopal rally with Gujarat Chief Minister and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi being the star draw.

Senior party leaders Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Uma Bharti and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan shared the stage as the party went all out to project a united face.

It is also the first public appearance of Modi and Advani together after the Gujarat Chief Minister was nominated as the party's prime ministerial candidate which had been vehemently opposed by Advani. To show that everything was well Modi also touched Advani's feet while BJP workers welcomed them.

BJP has also gone all out to attract Muslims and project Modi as a secular leader. BJP leaders claim that the rally will be attended by over 7 lakh people including several thousand people from the minority community. The rally has been organised by the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister who is going to face elections a couple of months later.