Modi changes tack, asks Centre to bear Sonia Gandhi's treatment expenses

Ahmedabad, Oct 4: In a suprising change of tack, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today said, he had never questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi's treatment expenses, and alleged, the Congress was resorting to 'emotional blackmail' on the issue. In an interview to an English news channel during his poll rath yatra, Modi said: "I did not raise Madam Sonia Gandhi's medical treatment issue. I don't know why the Congress party is resorting to emotional blackmail over this issue. "India is a humanist (manavta-vadi) country. We treat even Pakistani patients here. Madam Soniaji deserves to get full medical treatment, and I appeal to the Prime Minister to allow the Centre to bear full medical treatment expenses for Madam Soniaji", said the feisty BJP leader. Modi said, he had only pointed out to a news story published in July, 2012, in which an activist had claimed that Rs 1880 crore was spent on Madam Soniaji's tours. "It's wrong to say that the news was published only in a Gujarati newspaper. It was circulated by PTI and published by Outlook, Times of India and other papers. You check those newspapers in the month of July this year. "And, the expenses that were shown related to three years ago, when Madam Soniaji was not ill. For three months, the government did not respond to this news story, and when I raised it, the government could well have stated the true facts. The matter would have ended there. But the Congress party resorted to emotional blackmail. Madam Soniaji's treatment is not an issue for us", said Modi. The Gujarat chief minister lashed out at Sonia Gandhi, saying that she had been misled about the drought issue, the VAT issue, and the raising of cap on LPG cylinders issue. Sonia Gandhi in her Rajkot speech on Wednesday had raised these issues, alleging that the state government has not yet sent its memorandum to the Centre on drought situation. She had also alleged that Gujarat was levying the highest VAT on fuel products, and was yet to raise the cap on subsidized LPG cylinders like other Congress-ruled states. Replying to these charges, Modi said, "Madam Soniaji may not know that the CNG pipeline goes through Gujarat, and we have provided piped CNG to nearly 3 lakh families in more than 300 villages. "The Gujarat government had sought the Centre's permission to provide piped CNG to nearly 20 lakh families, but the Centre refused. "Had the CNG supply been provided, it would have meant a saving of 350 crore LPG cylinders annually, which amounts to a savings of Rs 1,75,000 crore for the state-owned oil companies. CNG is cheaper than subsidized LPG. "Here I was proposing huge savings for the Centre, for the consumers of Gujarat and for the oil companies, but the Congress party did not want my govt to take the credit, so the Centre refused", alleged Modi. On levying of highest VAT on fuel products in Gujarat, Modi said, India has a federal system, and it does not behove of the Congress president to pit one state against the other. On the issue of memorandum over drought situation, Modi said: "When Gujarat faced drought this summer, the Congress party went into an overdrive, and sent minister after minister to reap political benefit with an eye on elections. There was belated monsoon in the state, and the farmers got relief. "Yet, our government sent the memorandum on drought to the Centre in July itself. I myself handed over a memorandum to Sharad Pawar (agriculture minister) and Jairam Ramesh (rural development minister) when they came here. So, how come Madam Soniaji is saying our government has not sent the memorandum?", asked Modi. "They (Congress leaders) are speaking lies now. It does not behove a senior leader like Soniaji to make such charges", he added. Asked whether winning the Gujarat polls was a 'make-or-break' situation for him, Modi said: "I am always an optimistic. I don't believe in the philosophy of make-or-break. I believe in reincarnation and want to save Mother India. Is not serving the state of Gujarat a way of serving Bharat Mata?", Modi asked.