The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during the inauguration of a solar energy plant in Bhagwanpur in Madhya Pradesh yesterday. The plant, covering some 4mn sqm of land, is expected to deliver some 151MW of power and is said to be one of the biggest in Asia.

Agencies/New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday demanded an apology from External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid for calling its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi “impotent.”
Khurshid, during a rally in his constituency Farukkabad in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday said: “Our allegation is not that you (Modi) get people killed...but that you are napunsak (impotent).” It was in reference to Modi’s claims to be a strong man, yet failing to protect people during the 2002 riots.
Modi is accused by rights groups of turning a blind eye to riots that killed up to 1,000 people in Gurajat in 2002 when he was chief minister. Most victims were Muslims.
Modi has denied any wrongdoing and investigations have cleared him of personal blame, although one of his former ministers was jailed for life for instigating the killing of 97 Muslims.
“It is utterly irresponsible, shameful and condemnable coming as it does from the foreign minister of India,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
“If the Oxford educated Salman Khusrshid does not understand the distinction between incompetent and impotent then what should I say? Khurshid must apologise,” said the deputy leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.
At the rally Khurshid said: “All I am asking the BJP and Modi to do is accept what happened during the 2002 riots.”
Another BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi advised Congress leaders to keep patience.
“They are using this kind of language as they are frustrated...All the senior leaders and ministers are aware that they would be wiped out. This kind of statements will take them nowhere.
“We would like to advise them to keep some patience. Elections will come and go, you shall reap what you sow. The people will account for your scams, your performance, your corruption with interests. Why are you so worried?” he asked.
Opinion polls show Modi on course to win general elections due by May ahead of Congress whose campaign is led by vice president Rahul Gandhi.
Modi’s close aide and Gujarat minister Jay Narayan Vyas said Khurshid’s “absolutely indecent comment” reflected the “frustration” of the Congress leaders ahead of the elections.
“They are so frustrated that they have lost control over their mind and tongue,” Vyas, who is spokesman for the Gujarat government said, and recalled Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s tea seller jibe at Modi.
In other political developments, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) yesterday said it was looking for options for an alliance and the “option of BJP is open.”
“We are looking for alternate alliance partners as there is a deadlock with the existing allies,” LJP leader Chirag Paswan said after a meeting of the party’s parliamentary board.
LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan, Chirag’s father, added: “We have kept the option of BJP open.”
Paswan senior said his party has had grievances with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the talks for an alliance with the Congress did not show much progress.
“Elections are at the door, and they (Congress and RJD) have not taken any decision, what can we do,” he said.
BJP sources, however, indicated an alliance with the LJP is almost final and an announcement will be made soon.
Also yesterday, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said opinion polls conducted by media should be properly authenticated.
A day after a Hindi television news channel carried out a sting operation that indicated a political conspiracy to manipulate public opinion, Kejriwal said if it is assumed to be authentic, it represents a dark hour for the Indian media.
“It shows that political parties like the BJP have been buying favourable service to manipulate public opinion,” the Aam Aadmi Party leader said.
He also demanded that the News Broadcaster Standard Authority (NBSA) and the Editors Guild should have checked the veracity of the sting operation and conducted an inquiry into the role of news channels in broadcasting manipulated polls.