Patna:
Trashing JD(U)'s allegations that Narendra Modi was an "autocratic" and "divisive" leader, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday asked what "sin had he committed that provoked" the erstwhile ally to walk away after remaining together for 17 long years.
"What sin has Modi committed?" Singh asked during his address to BJP workers at Sanjay Gandhi stadium here.
The BJP leader is on a two-day visit to bolster the party's preparations for the next General Elections post the separation with JD(U).
Categorically rejecting the JD(U) charge of Modi being an "autocratic" and "divisive" leader with whom political relations was not possible, Singh attacked the erstwhile ally for "suddenly" finding fault with the Gujarat chief minister and his leadership after remaining part of the alliance for 17 long years.
"You have had no problems with Modi between 2002 and 2013, during which his stocks continued to rise .... But all of a sudden you have found fault with him and decided to part ways by citing difficulties in working with him," the BJP national president said.
Modi has been made only the chief of BJP's poll campaign panel chief and not the prime ministerial candidate. "Yet JD(U) chose to walk out by drawing its own conclusion about the affairs of another party."
"Every political party is entitled to make its own decisions .... We (BJP) had decided to make Modi our poll campaign panel chief in view of his popularity and charisma to draw votes. What is wrong in that?" Singh asked and assailed JD(U)'s decision to part ways by pre-judging things on its own.
Singh attacked Nitish Kumar for his alleged growing proximity to Congress and said he should "refrain from riding on a ship which was bound to sink in the next general elections."
"You (Bihar CM) should guard against going with the Congress as your fortunes and credibility will sink with it," Singh said referring to Congress supporting the Nitish Kumar government during the successful trust vote last week.
He also criticised the sacking of the BJP ministers without giving them an opportunity to submit their resignation papers after the split in the NDA and said, Kumar's unilateral action was not the way the alliance should have ended.
Training his guns at the Congress, the BJP president said it was like 'Dhritrashtra' (of Mahabharata) who tried to stick to power till the very end and wanted to kill the Pandava prince 'Bhim' and warned JD(U) too would meet a similar fate.
He also assailed the UPA government at the Centre for multiple failures on economic and foreign policy issues. "Our country has been shamed internationally due to falling price of rupee and the Chinese incursions in Indian territories recently."
Heaping praises on Modi, the BJP president described him as a symbol of good governance and development and said that his achievements were being talked about globally.
"The development model has become synonymous with Modi and cited as a bench mark in our country and abroad," he said.
He also praised the Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar also, saying that it was due to his economic management that petrol was cheaper that diesel in that state.
The other BJP chief ministers too have been doing "wonderfully well" in their states.
"We are confident of taking the country out of socio-economic and political morass if voted to power at the Centre," Singh said.
The BJP president claimed that the erstwhile NDA government had left behind a robust economy with eight per cent plus growth rate and the rupee at decent valuation versus the dollar (at Rs 45).
But the UPA government "mishandled" the economy to such an extent that the country's currency has witnessed a free fall of late with its value now Rs 60 per dollar.
"We had left behind a young rupee which has become a senior citizen during the UPA rule," he quipped.
The "uncontrolled" price rise and inflation, declining growth rate at sub-five per cent and slew of scams from Coalgate to Railgate sums up the failures of the UPA government, he said.
"The UPA government has put the country to shame by forcing our soldiers to retreat from our own forward posts on the condition set by China in lieu of withdrawal of its troop from Ladakh region where the Chinese soldiers had invaded and stayed there for over two weeks earlier this year," he said.
The BJP president exhorted the BJP cadre to work hard and try to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar in the General Elections slated for the next year "so that even our adversities cannot stop us from coming to power at the centre".
