Now it's 'Harvard versus hard work'. With this new aggressive poll pitch in Chennai, Narendra Modi was playing the role of a hurt and wounded man who was being ridiculed by the rich English speaking elite because he was posing a very real threat to their political hegemony, and right to occupy New Delhi's seat of power.
In the process he was also trying to arouse the passion of the masses, many of whom have been educated in vernacular schools and colleges, to tell them not to be impressed by 'fancy' foreign degrees. Instead, he was saying, judge who has served the people better over the last ten years.
This was Modi's counter attack against finance minister P Chidambaram who had recently lampooned Modi in an interview to the BBC, saying, "What he (Modi) knows about economics can be written on the back of a postage stamp." Modi retaliated by saying "Only if you paste the postal stamp will the letter be delivered. I have proved myself through delivery (in Gujarat)."
Narendra Modi at his Chennai rally on Saturday: PTI
The Harvard Business School educated Chidambaram, has been at the forefront of the Congress campaign in ridiculing and discrediting Modi. But in bringing up Chidambaram's much contested election victory from the Shivganga parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha election, Modi carefully chose his time and place to attack the former Finance Minister.
Modi even had a new name for Chidambaram, which was "Recounting Minister" - a reference to the fact that Chidambaram was first declared to have lost his election seat, but was then deemed the winner after a contested recount.
But Chidambaram was not the only Congress official to feature on Modi's hit list.
He was also furious at Rahul Gandhi's Ulloo (owl) jibe at him made earlier in the day. "We have to respect the tea vendor, the labourer and the farmer. But those who make 'ullu' (fool) of others, should not be respected," Gandhi had said.
In response, he referred to the Congress vice president as Meharban.
What was interesting to note however, that even as Modi was aggressive he was not abrasive, as he has often accused of being by his critics and political rivals.
He did not call Rahul a Shahzada. In fact lately he has not been using this term at all. In fact yesterday he used the much gentler Urdu word, Meharban.
Though Modi had been consistent in castigating Congress for dedicating itself to service of a single (Gandhi-Nehru) family, his key targets kept changing over a series of rallies on Saturday, which began in Imphal, moved on to Gauhati and finished in Chennai.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was his principal target in Gauhati and Imphal for allegedly not doing anything substantive for the region despite representing Assam in the Rajya Sabha for the last 23 years. He briefly responded to Rahul Gandhi on Sardar Patel at his second venue, Gauhati. By evening when he landed in Chennai he had gone through Rahul Gandhi's speech and had also decided to target Chidambaram.
Another significant factor about Modi's Chennai rally was that he didn't take on either the AIADMK or the DMK. He shares great personal rapport with AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and the DMK too has made some conciliatory gestures to him. He perhaps didn't want to destroy the prospect of a post poll alliance with either of the two principal Tamilian players.
Instead, Modi focused on the Congress and specifically Chidambaram. Given that Chidambaram is most the Congress party's most important leader from Tamilnadu, and a potential Prime Ministerial nominee in the case of UPA 3, it made sense that Modi went after him in Chennai.
"He thinks he was the first in the queue when God was distributing wisdom," Modi said.
"The Finance Minister is from Harvard. Prime Minister is an economist and he too has a degree from a big university. I have hard work to my credit. Going to Harvard means nothing. What matters is hard work.... A man who has just studied in an ordinary school, sold tea and has not even seen the doors of Harvard has shown what it takes to handle economy… Yeh recounting minister ka ahankar chatt par chad kar bol raha hai (This Recounting Minister is excessively arrogant). He has been using foul language against me for quite some time now. Let's see who changes the fate of the nation. Harvard or hard work. I have been keeping quiet because the more mud you throw, the lotus will blossom to greater glory. Do we need Harvard or hard work for the development of the country", Modi said in a tirade.
To Rahul Gandhi's Ulloo jibe, Modi said it was an insult to all the people of Gujarat, because it was them who had elected him for three consecutive terms as Chief Minister. "Three generations of the Congress's first family tried to make fools of the Gujarati people, but they have not bought your lies. You can no longer fool the people and they will respond to your arrogance in the coming elections", he said.
Rahul's Ulloo jibe will surely add to the bitterness of an already very bitter public discourse. And in this case, Modi has chosen to play the victim rather than the aggressor.
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