New Delhi, Nov 30

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Saturday tore into the Congress over price rise, asking why "Madam Sonia" despite being a mother and "grandma" Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit did not care for the poor who went to bed hungry.

"Madam Sonia (Congress president Sonia Gandhi), aap maa hain, kabhi toh ek baar mehengai ke liye do shabd bol dijiye. Sheila ji aap daadi ho gayi, kabhi bhookhe bache ke liye kuch bol dijiye (Madam Sonia you are a mother, at least say something about the price rise. Sheila, you are a grandmother, speak up in favour of the hungry children)," he said attacking the Congress during an election rally in the capital.

During his three back-to-back rallies in Delhi, Modi said the Congress government in Delhi has lost peoples' trust and attacked Dikshit for failing to ensure safety for women in the capital.

Referring to the Dec 16 gang-rape case, he said her failure to provide safety to women has tarnished the country's image. 

"If the capital of our country has a woman chief minister, and our sisters and mothers are not safe, then the image of the country gets tarnished," Modi said without taking Dikshit's name.

"The Nirbhaya episode has broken the heart of India," he said referring to the gang rape.

Modi addressed well-attended rallies in east Delhi's Shahdara area, Sultanpuri in west Delhi and Chandni Chowk in the walled city.

He also criticised Dikshit for alleged bungling in the Commonwealth Games in 2009.

"Instead of getting fame, she (Dikshit) brought disrepute to the country," he said.

He hit out at the Congress government, saying the party has lost people's trust.

"This government has lost the trust of people and that is why its leaders are not coming here to campaign. They know they can't fool the people of Delhi with fake promises," Modi said in his address to a rally in Shahdara area.

So far, only Congress president Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi have addressed public rallies in the capital.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was scheduled to address an election meeting Nov 30 in Tilak Nagar area in west Delhi gave it a miss as he was busy.

Modi Saturday wooed the crowd by promising development if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted to power.

"If BJP comes to power, you will be the first to benefit," he said.

Modi said the Congress had no issues to speak on and no development work to show and that was why it was attacking him to divert people's attention.

"They think that by attacking Modi, they will win the elections but the fact is that they have not done anything for the people. They just don't have the will to work for the benefit of people," he said.

Appealing for votes of the minority community in Chandni Chowk, Modi said the BJP does not believe in votebank politics but in development politics.

"When we speak of votebank we don't refer to Muslims - this is what appears to people. But I speak from the bottom of my heart that votebank politics is not about Hindu-Muslim but it has worsened the plight of our country," he said.

Without taking the name of union minister Kapil Sibal, Modi referred to the Akash low cost tablet and said: "He was supposed to give lakhs of people the Akash... what happened to that scheme. Where has Akash gone?"

"I told him, please accept that your Akash scheme is a flop, but he refused to accept it," he continued.

Referring to the 2G spectrum case, he again targeted Sibal saying: "Mr Zero said there was zero loss (in the 2G allocation). He is steeped in his own arrogance." 

Referring to his much-touted Gujarat model of governance, he said the Congress is arrogant and does not want to acknowledge the progress of his state.

By:IANS