INDIA GROWTH STORY: Modi promises to act against Ashok Chavan Slams Cong For Ticket To Ex-CM Tainted By Adarsh

Mumbai/Nanded:The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, on Sunday lashed out against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vicepresident Rahul Gandhi for nominating former chief minister Ashok Chavan as a candidate for the general elections. He also promised to prosecute all politicians involved in the Adarsh scam if the BJP came

to power after the polls.
    Addressing an election rally in Nanded, Chavan’s home town and from where he has been nominated, Modi said it appeared that neither Sonia nor Rahul were determined to eradicate corruption in politics. “It’s doublespeak. Rahul Gandhi had declared that there will be absolutely no compromise with corrupt politicians and stern action will be taken against politicians involved in the Adarsh scam. I was shocked to see Ashok Chavan’s name in the list of Congress candidates. It’s a gift to Chavan and reflects Rahul Gandhi’s doublespeak on corruption,” Modi said. “The shahzada (prince) has been misleading the people of the country, saying that he doesn’t tolerate corruption or corrupt people. Is this the Congress’s way of tackling corruption?”
    Modi said it was shocking that Adarsh flats meant for the widows of Kargil war heroes had been sold to netas and looted for obvious reasons (the society was actually set up for the ‘welfare of retired and serving defence personnel’).
Youth Congress leader’s ‘rape-murder’ may hit party’s poll chances in Latur T he alleged rape and murder of a female Youth Congress leader in Latur on March 21 and the subsequent arrest of two party office-bearers on Saturday could hit the party’s prospects in Latur, report Syed Rizwanullah & Himanshu Nitnaware. Mahendra Vikramsinh Chavan, president of the Latur assembly constituency affairs in-charge of the YC, and his associate Sameer Killarikar were on Sunday remanded in police custody. According to police, the 26-year-old woman had gone with the duo who asked her to attend some programmes to mark MLA Amit Deshmukh’s birthday celebrations. Deshmukh is the son of the late former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. P 9 ‘BJP will stagger food security rollout’ B JP leader Yashwant Sinha on Sunday hit out at Union finance minister P Chidambaram for “making it a habit” to leave behind a fragile economy, and indicated that his party, if voted to power, may stagger the rollout of the food security law. “(Managing) inflation will be the first priority. Or else, the RBI will not be able to get space for a cut in interest rates,” Sinha said, adding that there was a case for reviewing the controversial gas price formula, which will double the price of the fuel. P 8 Smriti Irani is set to fight Rahul in Amethi The BJP appears on the verge of fielding Smriti Irani against Rahul Gandhi in a bid to tilt the hitherto lopsided battle in Amethi. If it does go ahead, it will be a three-way fight between Rahul, Smriti and AAP’s Kumar Vishwas. The decision to field Smriti, a Rajya Sabha MP, stems from the estimate that the anti-Congress mood in the country may have rendered even the family stronghold of Amethi vulnerable. However, there is no clarity on pitting Uma Bharati against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. P 9 Modi vows to purge politics of crime
    In a speech that lasted 25 minutes, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, devoted 15 minutes to Ashok Chavan and the Gandhis.
    Taking a dig at Chavan, the BJP leader said, “The former CM has not spared even his sister (by opposing the re-nomination of her husband and sitting MP Bhaskrao Patil Khatgaonkar). No one steals the right of a sister, but Chavan has done so. Instead of withdrawing in favour of his sister (her husband), he snatched her right.’’
    He said the nation was keen to know from both Sonia and Rahul as to what prompted them to nominate Chavan. “They have been promising a corruption-free India, but their actions do not reflect their promises. Once we come to power, we will take stern action against all politicians named in the [report of the Adarsh judicial] commission,” Modi said.
    He said it was unfortunate that despite strictures against Chavan by the judicial commission, the Congress chose to nominate him. “I am surprised at (Sonia) Gandhi’s statement that since no court has barred him from contesting the polls, the Congress has nominated him... A crime was committed in the name of providing benefits to the widows of Kargil war martyrs. I will not spare those who have looted the widows of the Kargil martyrs.”
    Modi said he intended to cleanse politics of criminal elements and corruption. “It’s a part of my cleansing (shuddhikaran) plan. All pending cases against MLAs and MPs will be tackled within a year. I will not discriminate while cleansing the system. The guilty will have to spend time in jails and those found innocent will be spared. Even other parties will have to toe the line, and will not dare field criminal or corrupt candidates in future.”
    Modi instantly struck a chord with the gathering when he spoke in Marathi, wishing everyone on Gudi Padwa. He said that one of the ‘panchpyaras’ accompanying Guru Gobind Singh was a Gujarati. “We have constructed a big hospital in Gujarat to commemorate the association of the Gujarati panchpyara with Guru Gobind Singhji.”
    Modi reiterated that he would bring back black money stashed in foreign banks. Corrupt officials will be dealt with sternly while honest ones will be rewarded, he said. He also launched a scathing attack on the central government for “playing with the sentiments of the people”, particularly women who have faced sexual assault, by introducing “Nirbhaya funds”. “Last year, they said they had made a provision of Rs 1,000 crore in Nirbhaya funds to help oppressed women, but not a single paisa was spent. This year, too, they have made a similar provision,” he said.
    As per Modi’s original itinerary, he was expected to address election rallies in Amravati and Akola. But when the Congress nominated Chavan, Nanded was added to Modi’s campaign list.
    Refuting Modi’s allegations, Chavan said it was unfortunate that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate was making allegations without doing his homework. “I am innocent. I am not involved in corruption. Neither am I convicted, nor have I been barred by any court or the EC from contesting the polls,” Chavan said.
    Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant criticized Modi for his uncalled-for statement against the Gandhis. “Modi has no moral right to speak against Chavan. Politicians who were convicted or jailed were members of Modi’s Gujarat cabinet,” Sawant said.