Moily attacks ‘bloated’ Modi, ‘immature’ AAP: Is Congress scared?

As the Lok Sabha polls draw near, Congress leaders seem to be fearing the worst and panicking. They leave no stone unturned to attack the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and the Aam Admi Party, their partner in Delhi.

Over the last weekend, senior Congress ministers slammed Modi for the economic road map for India he set out in an address to party workers . Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh criticized Modi's record on women's empowerment—one of the priority areas listed by Modi for fast-tracking improvement if the BJP came to power after the national polls scheduled for April-May.

Veerappa Moily. PTI

Another instance was when Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, who said Modi is simply borrowing Congress' ideas of smart cities. He isn't suggesting anything new that UPA isn't doing, Sharma said. 

Now, it is the turn of Oil and Environment Minister Veerappa Moily.

In an exclusive interview to Reuters, Moily described Narendra Modi as a 'bloated figure' who will disintegrate the country if he comes to power.

"He (Modi) will be a cause for disintegration. We're disintegrated in Gujarat, he will continue to disintegrate if he is given national responsibility," he has been quoted as saying in the report.

Moily said Modi is a bloated figure and he is not capable of winning the elections. "I don't think he will be a figure who will be counted for the country, forget about becoming prime minister."

According to him, Modi is not responsible for Gujarat's growth as the state was "number one in industrialization with the Congress regime."

On AAP, Moily said that its politics and economic policies are immature.

"They won in Delhi. Delhi is not India. India is not Delhi," Moily said about the newly formed party's prospects in the coming elections.

Moily said the Congress party supported the AAP in Delhi even at the cost of embarrassment because they wanted a stable government. "We have given a chance to them," he said.

Interestingly, Moily believes there will be a UPA-3 ruling the Centre after the election because the UPA has been focussed on inclusive economics to build an inclusive society. As for the scams that had become a hallmark of the two UPA regimes, he is of the opinion that the problem is with the system and not exactly a minister.

Read the exclusive Reuters interview here.