Modi making a desperate bid to resurrect his stature: Ashok Gehlot

Ashok Gehlot said that Indira Gandhi's aura was different, while the aura of Modi is diminishing.

Lucknow, Feb 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making a desperate bid to resurrect his stature but the absence of credibility is haunting him, chief co-ordinator of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Ashok Gehlot said.

"Indira Gandhi's aura was different, while the aura of Modi is diminishing. Gandhi was ousted in a poll primarily due to the anger of voters but she was again accepted by them," he told PTI refusing to draw any comparison between Modi and the late prime minister.

"Modi had got a chance but he lost it. Senior party leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and L K Advani have been marginalised. BJP workers are feeling suffocated," the former Rajasthan chief minister said here. Gehlot said a sense of frustration has penetrated deep in his mind and added that "Modi is making a desperate bid to resurrect his stature but the absence of credibility is haunting him".

Sharpening his attack, he said, "Congress never bothered for power. But I think BJP is going to meet the same fate in Uttar Pradesh as in the Assembly elections of Delhi and Bihar." He said BIMARU states was only a new jumla (rhetoric) coined by Modi. "BIMARU is simply a jumla and nothing else. What is the definition of BIMARU, can you tell me? In fact, Modi is an expert in telling lies," Gehlot said, adding that Modi is busy creating a rift between the rich and the poor.

Claiming that dictatorship has raised its ugly head in the BJP, Gehlot said Modi's current image resembles that of US President Donald Trump. "After 30 years, a particular party got a clear mandate. When Modi came to power, the writing on the wall was that this government would last for 10 years and this view emanated across different political parties," Gehlot said, adding that in two-and-half years, Modi's image has taken a beating.

PTI