Past the halfway mark and into its last leg, the Gujarat election campaign went high voltage Friday as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and chief minister Narendra Modi traded barbs over the Sir Creek issue.
With 95 seats still at stake till the final phase of voting on December 17, Gandhi gave a strong rebuttal to Modi’s claim that the Centre planned to hand over Sir Creek to Pakistan. “The Congress has never compromised with national unity and its leaders, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, laid down their lives for the unity of the country,” she told a crowd of 50,000 in Kalol near Gandhinagar.

Accusing the CM of trying to gain “political mileage”, she suggested he check history before raising such allegations.

The prime minister’s office, too, had refuted Modi’s claim, which he made in a letter to the PM and subsequently raised at every rally he addressed.

Modi kept up his attack on the UPA government.

"Sir Creek is not a piece of land for Gujarat. It is an undivided part of the state and we will never allow it to be handed over to Pakistan."

His colleague in the ruling BJP, Arun Jaitley, said the CM was justified in raising the issue.

Modi also attacked Gandhi on Twitter and at his rally in Anand over her claim that his government was misusing central funds. "Sonia Gandhi came to Gujarat today but today also, she came without doing her homework."

To her comment that the UPA has given more money to Gujarat that the BJP-led NDA, Modi said, "Do not resort to such lies and don't mislead the nation."

(With PTI inputs)