JDU hits out at Modi for his 'desperation' to become PM

New Delhi: Janata Dal United President Sharad Yadav on Saturday ridiculed Narendra Modi for what he said was his "desperation" to become Prime Minister and advised him to take the oath of office from PA Sangma, whom BJP had fielded as its contestant for the 2012 Presidential elections.

"If he (Modi) has become so desperate, he should place the replica of Lal Qila (Red Fort) behind himself and take oath (of prime ministership) from Sangma, whom BJP had fielded (as its candidate in the presidential elections)," Yadav said.

JDU, an NDA partner at the time of the last presidential polls, did not support Sangma's candidature for the same and had instead backed UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee, who went ahead to become President. Modi had last year addressed a rally in Chhattisgarh for which the replica of Delhi's Red Fort was erected in the background. The rally had invited jeers from Congress, which had said that it was the only way in which Modi could fulfil his dream of becoming prime minister.

The annual Independence Day speech is delivered by the prime minister of the country from the ramparts of Red Fort. Snapping its 17-year-old ties with BJP, JDU had walked out of NDA in June last year over its opposition to the saffron outfit's move to anoint Modi as its campaign committee chairman. "He (Modi) is not going to become prime minister. He is selling dreams. A merchant or a juggler ('madari') sells dreams, but a politician is one who talks about dreams that can be realised," Yadav said.

He, meanwhile, also slammed Modi for his comments at a rally in Kolkata that the proposed Third Front would make India a "third rate" country. "The manner in which he (Modi) used the word 'third rate' is not done in political discourse. Neither Congress nor BJP is going to come to power (at the Centre). "They (BJP) are now shouting from rooftops. They will just remain there," Yadav said.