New Delhi: Slamming Narendra Modi for making rhetorical speeches on every given occasion, Union Minister Sachin Pilot said that the Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP poll panel chief was intoxicated with Prime Ministerial ambitions and is too self-obsessed to see "right from wrong".
The Corporate Affairs Minister also accused the BJP leader of creating a facade of development and governance, while his core objective remained a Hindutva agenda "to inflame passions and create divisions".
"However, people of India have moved beyond these issues and they have become much smarter today. India is a new country with a much more robust youth population and, middle class who want more colleges than some mandir or masjid," the young Congress leader said.
"I think Modi is self obsessed to such a point where he is not been able to see right from wrong and that often happens when a person is intoxicated with the obsession of becoming a potential Prime Ministerial candidate," Pilot said.
Modi is being seen as a strong contender to be the party's prime ministerial candidate during the next Lok Sabha polls.
36-year-old Pilot, a Lok Sabha MP from Ajmer in Rajasthan, said that Modi's acceptability is questionable even within his own party and among the top leadership of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but he still indulges in his rhetoric on every given opportunity, including on an occasion like the Independence Day.
Referring to Modi's criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Independence Day speech, Pilot said that such an important day should not be used for doing narrow politics.
"Prime minister was not making a speech for one party... He was speaking as leader of this country. Still, Modi decided to do is politics on that day in his almost blatant and abundant desire to be projected as a potential prime ministerial candidate... This criticism and timing was most unfortunate," Pilot said.
On August 15, Modi had launched a blistering attack on Manmohan Singh for his "weak and feeble" response to provocations from Pakistan and China and attacked him over a variety of other issues. Modi also challenged Singh for a public debate on governance and said that the nation was "restless for change".
"I am glad that at least some leaders in the BJP had the dignity and respect for the occasion when they were critical of Modi trying to do his politics on Independence Day," Pilot said.
"... a leader of the stature of L K Advani criticised him. It shows that at least a few people in the BJP, who still believe that nation is above all else, are not thinking of Modi despite his rhetorical speeches," the minister said.
Pilot said that the UPA government coming back to power is a "real possibility because of the kind of work the government has done" and the country and its people were more interested in development, rather than in issues like 'Mandir-Masjid'.
The minister said that the government would welcome any constructive criticism by the main Opposition party, but the BJP is rather indulging in "narrow politics" by stalling or not letting important bills get passed. "They (BJP) have responsibilities as much as the government. The BJP will have to look at it internally...
"I think criticism is important, if it is constructive. But the BJP needs to see the reality that Modi talks about development, but goes back to Hindutva...
"Talking about development and governance is a facade, as Hindutva agenda is at the core of it. The core objective is to inflame passions and create divisions," Pilot said.
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