By IANS
Ahmedabad : Using a term Congress president Sonia Gandhi used to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Narendra Modi declared Monday he would never allow “merchants of death” to thrive in Gujarat.
On Saturday, Gandhi launched a vicious attack on the BJP ahead of the Dec 11 and 16 assembly elections, calling the rulers of Gujarat “maut ke saudagar” (merchants of death).
Congress leaders have also been referring to Modi as a terrorist.
On Monday, Modi paid back the Congress in the same coin.
“I promise that I will not allow the merchants of death to thrive in Gujarat. I want absolute peace in the state,” he told an election rally at Ankleshwar in south Gujarat.
Referring to the allegedly staged killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a Muslim from Madhya Pradesh, by the Gujarat Police in 2005, Modi challenged Gandhi and the Congress-led government in New Delhi to hang him if he was at fault in the case.
The Supreme Court has ordered a probe into the killing earlier this year. Many police officers have been arrested, embarrassing the state government.
Modi said: “Yes, the Sohrabuddin encounter did take place. If Sonia Gandhi and the central government have the guts to pin the blame on me, why don’t they go ahead and hang me?”
His statement, greeted with loud cheers by the crowd, is seen as the BJP’s counter-attack against the Congress.
The BJP is also trying to revive the issue of the Gujarati pride and esteem.The party has come out with advertisements that ask: “Till when will you abuse Gujarat?”
The advertisement carries a list of issues on which, according to BJP, Gujarat has been abused.
“Because of jealousy about Narendra Modi, Gujarat is abused,” it says. “If there is an issue of minority votes, Gujarat is abused.”