: Smack in the middle of the national election that many believe it can't win, the Congress has taken to a new line of offensive to target Narendra Modi, using his own party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. <br /> <br />Mr Vajpayee's image was prominent on the Congress' official website today, with a message that invoked the former prime minister's words in 2002, during the riots in Mr Modi's Gujarat. <br /> <br />"Modi did not follow Rajdharma (A ruler's duty)", said the Congress' ad, calling it the fundamental cause of Mr Vajpayee's pain. <br /> <br />Top Stories <br /> <br /> NDTV opinion poll: BJP and allies cross 272 mark <br /> <br /> This is not family tea-party, it's ideological war: Priyanka on Varun <br /> <br /> Scared of Modi, but Rajnath like Vajpayee: top Shia cleric <br /> <br /> Election Commission officials heckled in West Bengal <br /> <br /> Congress' new slogan should be 'Mein nahin Mom' says Jaitley <br /> <br /> Narendra Modi becoming PM is fantasy: Mamata Banerjee <br /> <br /> In Varanasi, Arvind Kejriwal faces a poster war <br /> <br /> BJP's Smriti Irani to file her nomination papers on Wednesday from Amethi <br /> <br /> Sonia Gandhi says BJP will ruin 'Bhartiyata', BJP says let her learn it first <br /> <br /> NDTV opinion poll: Jayalalithaa to be dominant player but DMK makes gains in Tamil Nadu <br /> <br /> NDTV opinion poll: Karnataka to bring some cheer to Congress <br /> <br /> NDTV's opinion poll: huge sweep for BJP in Rajasthan <br /> <br /> Opinion: How compelling could Priyanka, the politician, be? <br /> <br /> Opinion: Anticipating Modi's victory are two distinct groups <br /> <br />Parties <br /> <br /> AIADMK <br /> <br /> Akali Dal <br /> <br /> Bahujan Samaj Party <br /> <br /> BJP <br /> <br /> Congress <br /> <br /> CPI <br /> <br /> CPM <br /> <br /> DMK <br /> <br /> Janata Dal Secular <br /> <br /> Janata Dal United <br /> <br /> National Conference <br /> <br /> Samajwadi Party <br /> <br /> Shiv Sena <br /> <br /> Trinamool Congress <br /> <br />You are here: Home » Elections » News <br />Congress ad invokes Vajpayee to target Narendra Modi <br /> <br />Edited by Deepshikha Ghosh | Updated: April 11, 2014 14:17 IST <br />submit to reddit <br />email <br />Ads by Google <br /> <br />Buy Homes in Noida – 2-3 BHK Homes starting at 30 Lac. Project By KV Developers. Book Now <br /> <br />kvdwindpark.com/Homes-in-Noida <br />Congress ad invokes Vajpayee to target Narendra Modi <br /> <br />Congress ad invokes Atal Behari Vajpayee to target Narendra Modi <br />New Delhi: Smack in the middle of the national election that many believe it can't win, the Congress has taken to a new line of offensive to target Narendra Modi, using his own party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. <br /> <br />Mr Vajpayee's image was prominent on the Congress' official website today, with a message that invoked the former prime minister's words in 2002, during the riots in Mr Modi's Gujarat. <br /> <br />"Modi did not follow Rajdharma (A ruler's duty)", said the Congress' ad, calling it the fundamental cause of Mr Vajpayee's pain. <br /> <br />"Just think! Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vapayee did not think this man deserved to be chief minister, can you put the country's future in his hands?" says the ad. <br /> <br />The BJP's Nirmala Sitharaman said, "They are so weak they now need brownie points from Vajpayee. It clearly shows they are frustrated and will go to any length to stop Modi." <br /> <br />Mr Vajpayee, 89, considered the BJP's tallest leader, retired from active politics in 2006. He was Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004. <br /> <br />During the Gujarat violence in February, 2002, Mr Vajpayee had reportedly told Mr Modi, the Chief Minister, that "Rajdharma should be followed." <br />Mr Modi's critics say he didn't do enough to check the violence that left nearly 1,000 dead, mostly Muslims. A Supreme Court monitored inquiry said it found no evidence of Mr Modi's role in the riots, an assessment that was upheld by a trial court last year <br />The Congress website says: "No leader in the BJP can match the stature of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mr Vajpayee was clear what was the reason for the defeat. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's failure to control the communal pogrom in his state in 2002. He believed that the party will lose its credibility unless it took action against Mr Modi. (sic)" <br /> <br />The party goes on to quote Jaswant Singh, a former minister who was close to Mr Vajpayee, as saying that Mr Vajpayee had threatened to resign unless the BJP took action against Mr Modi.@ NSTV
