New Delhi, Apr. 9 (ANI): Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Tuesday lashed out at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as he attempted to reach out to his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and charged the UPA Government of discriminating against the non Congress-ruled states, saying the BJP has lurking, sulking and closeted Prime Ministerial ambitions.
"Your question is based on an assumption that the Bharatiya Janata Party has arrived at some conclusions. Yesterday, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh was saying that when there is talk of Prime Ministerial ambitions people laugh at the BJP. You have the Delhi BJP President articulating and advocating the case of Mr. L.K. Advani. So, as I jokingly had stated earlier in the BJP you have a lurking Prime Ministerial ambitions, sulking Prime Ministerial ambitions, closeted Prime Ministerial ambitions; but the reality is that Delhi is far away," he said, when asked whether Modi is trying to make a Centre versus state or would it be a larger one man show and how will Congress take on the criticism.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had earlier said that war over the Prime Ministerial candidate makes a joke of the BJP.
Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel had earlier on Saturday said that the next government at the Centre would be formed under L. K. Advani's leadership.
Tewari also attempted to bring the industry captains on the Centre's side, as he underscored that the UPA Government during the worst years of the global economy, which is during the 11th plan period, delivered 8.2 percent growth rate to this country.
" It put in place perhaps the most ambitious rights based entitlements architecture, which this world has seen in the recent past. And then you have somebody trying to market and tout a model, which is based upon completely mythical figures. The Indian industry really needs to introspect. They have some very good analysts, people who have made a profession out of being economists; they need to go into the veracity of figures which are being thrown out and come to their own conclusions," he added.
To a poser on whether he thinks that Mamata Banerjee should also take him with a pinch of salt, Tewari said: "I am not the spokesperson of the Trinamool Congress. I am not here to answer on behalf of the Trinamool Congress. But I think the chief minister of West Bengal like other political parties do understand that the fundamental polarization is secular quark communal."
"People have to decide as to on which side of the fault line would they like to stand. Would they like to stand with the plural idea of India or would they like to stand with the communal and sectarian idea of India," he added.
Modi, who addressed the industry captains in Kolkata earlier in the day, used the occasion to align himself with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, empathizing with her task to 'fill the potholes created by the left in over 32 years of rule', and attacking the UPA Government for discriminating against Bengal.
Modi, who is touted by many to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, said that he would learn from West Bengal and adopt its practices in his state.
"For a high jump, you have to go back. Similarly, to move ahead, to get a new start, you have to reach back a little, learn from your past. It is said this is the century of knowledge. But Bengal has been rich in knowledge and learning for hundreds of years," said Modi.
"West Bengal's development will make the eastern part of the country powerful," he added.
Modi earlier on Monday addressed the FICCI Ladies Forum in New Delhi, and laid emphasis on women empowerment. (ANI)
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