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Both the BJP and the Congress have run extremely intense campaigns this year in the run-up to the assembly elections in Gujarat. The result was a slugfest that also involved various ethnic groups within the state and took political rhetoric to a whole new level.
The BJP, which suffered from a lack of marketable faces in this year’s elections, had to fall back on their golden goose Narendra Modi to rally voters. The party continued to push its development narrative throughout the campaign but spruced it up with a healthy serving of trash talk.
On the other hand, the Congress did not have an iron-clad manifesto to stick to and had to take the attack to the opposition to gain political mileage. Rahul Gandhi put his rally appearances and Twitter handle to good use and was heard in a manner never seen before. With a few well-chosen comments, he turned the election campaign from a foregone conclusion to what seemed to be the first fair fight for power in the state in over two decades.
Also read: Gujarat Election Results 2017 LIVE: Will it be a clean sweep for BJP in the state?
Of course, some of the smaller players in the background also had their own moments in the limelight, however fleeting they might have been. Exit polls may have suggested that the election result would be a one-sided one in favour of the BJP, but even if that turns out to be true, one can’t deny that both sides fought tooth and nail.
Listed below are some of the exchanges of words between the two sides:
Rahul Gandhi calling CM Rupani Amit Shah’s rubber stamp
On one of his many visits to Gujarat during the campaign, Rahul Gandhi took a dig at both Amit Shah and sitting Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Speaking at a rally in Junagadh district, Gandhi said that the Gujarat government was run via remote control by Amit Shah, and that CM Rupani was nothing but a “rubber stamp”.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath accusing Rahul Gandhi of supporting Ishrat Jahan
Speaking at a rally in Valsad district, Yogi Adityanath said Rahul Gandhi was a supporter of destruction, not development. "He is not a supporter of development, but a supporter of destruction. Rahul Gandhi has supported Ishrat Jahan, a terrorist who was killed by security forces here (in 2004)," said the saffron-clad CM.
Congress party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had responded to the allegation saying both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had never interfered in any administrative matters, including the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, during the UPA government’s tenure.
OBC leader Alpesh Thakor saying PM Modi stays fair-skinned by eating extremely expensive imported mushrooms
Other Backward Castes (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakor took the game to a whole new field when he said that Prime Minister Modi eats imported mushrooms to stay fair-skinned.
“Somebody told me that Modiji has imported mushrooms from Taiwan... Each mushroom costs Rs 80,000 and PM Modi has five every day. So I said, he was dark like me, no wonder he is fair now,” Thakor said.
Mani Shankar Aiyar calling PM Modi a ‘neech aadmi’
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar probably took the cake for the most impactful comment in the recently-concluded campaign. Aiyar, who is infamous as a motor-mouth and has made election-altering statements in the past, called Prime Minister Narendra ‘neech’ in an interview with ANI.
“Ye aadmi bahut neech kisam ka aadmi hai. Is mein koi sabhyata nahi hai aur aise mauke par is kisam ki gandi rajniti karne ki kya avashyakta hai,” Aiyar had said.
Of course, Modi used the comment to his fullest advantage. Lashing out at Aiyar for the language he used, Modi said: “This Mughlai mindset sees everyone but princes as ‘neech’. What all have they called us, donkeys, neech, gandi nali ke keede (low-life, sewage-slugs)… the people of Gujarat will give a fitting answer to such deplorable language.”
“They can call me ‘neech’, yes I am from the poor section of society and will spend every moment of my life to work for the poor, Dalits, tribals and OBC communities. They can keep their language, we will do our work,” the Prime Minister added.
To contain the damage, the Congress was quick in suspending Aiyar from the party and Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to say that he did not appreciate the tone used by his party member.
Modi asking those opposing the bullet train project to travel in bullock carts instead
After the Congress repeatedly criticised the planned bullet train project, which will be built by Japan and will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Modi lashed out at those opposing it.
“Those opposing the bullet train project should travel on bullock carts. We won't mind,” he said at one of his rallies. “The NDA government got it at a negligible price. So the Congress didn't like that. My only grievance against the Congress is that if they could not achieve anything, why does it pain them when someone else does it.”
Former LK Advani aide calling Rahul Gandhi the leader India needs
On Saturday, two days before the counting of votes takes place in Gujarat, Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of senior BJP leader LK Advani, said Rahul Gandhi is the leader India needs and he will be the next Prime Minister.
Kulkarni called Gandhi a leader with a “truly Gandhian philosophy of politics” and called his mother Sonia Gandhi a woman of courage.
Hardik Patel saying if Gujaratis don’t fight together against BJP, they will be called Murkh Gujaratis
At one of his rallies, Patidar leader Hardik Patel said that Gujaratis would be fools if they don’t fight together to overthrow the BJP government.
“Hindu, Musalman, Patel, Koli Rajput, Brahmin – don’t get into all of this,” he said. “Today, six crore Gujaratis need to fight together [to defeat the BJP]...If we don’t, people will call us murkh Gujarati, murkh Gujarati,” Patel said.
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