In IT city, Narendra Modi talks of growth, Atal

Karnataka not being a poll-bound state, it was not exactly an election rally. And instead of attacks on the UPA, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan’ was the key note of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s address here.

Karnataka not being a poll-bound state, it was not exactly an election rally. And instead of attacks on the UPA, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan’ was the key note of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s address here.

Striking a positive note as he spoke to the 3.5-lakh-strong Bengaluru crowd that had paid `10 per head to hear him on Sunday, Modi extolled the virtues of growth, governance, the NDA’s contribution to making the city India’s own Silicon Valley and of former prime minister AB Vajpayee, who he said was the architect of it all.

“Vajpayee, when he was PM, brought IT policy, opened IT ministry and brought in the IT Act, 2000,” Modi said. “It was he who announced the slogan of Jai Vigyan. His dream of Chandrayan in 2003 became a reality in 2008. Mangalyaan (Mars mission) too, was a continuation of his policy.”

If the UPA figured in his speech, it was as sidelights — the skyrocketing price of onions (“In Wankhede, people were betting on whether Sachin would score a century or onion prices would reach a century”) and how the Centre was “suppressing freedom of expression”.

“These days, attacks on BJP have increased a bit. Attacks on Narendra Modi have also increased,” he said. And the reason, he explained, was that the Congress was unable to digest the saffron wave and his own popularity.