Narendra Modi challenges Manmohan Singh to a debate on development

Modi, BJP's election campaign committee chief, deplored that Prime Minister's I
ndependence Day speech did not have a tough message for Pakistan.

Narendra Modi.

Pitching himself firmly as BJP's prime
ministerial candidate even before being
formally anointed, Narendra Modi on Thursday
 launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister
 Manmohan Singh on national security and
challenged him to a public debate on governance,
saying the nation is "restless for change".

He also slammed the Prime Minister for India's
 "weak and feeble" response to provocations
 from Pakistan and China and attacked him
over a variety of issues ranging from corruption
 to the Centre's flagship food security bill.

Modi, who had on Wednesday said the nation
would compare his speech with
the Prime Minister's on Independance day,
repeatedly referred to President Pranab Mukherjee's address to the
 nation last evening to flag concerns about national security.

"The President says patience has limits. What is the limit, where is the border
line? It has to be decided by the government in Delhi. How long will we be patient?

"The question is not of Pakistan alone. Today, national security is under
 threat. The Chinese intrude into our land and we keep mum. When Italian
 soldiers come and kill our fishermen, when Pakistanis behead our soldiers,
 we get concerned," Modi said in his Independence Day address at a college in Bhuj.

Modi, BJP's election campaign committee chief, deplored that Prime Minister's
 Independence Day speech did not have a tough message for Pakistan.

"I know the constraints of the Prime Minister due to imperatives of international
 relations, the need for having good relations with neighbours. Lal Quila is
 not a place to challenge Pakistan but it is definitely a place from where the
 morale of Indian army can be raised," he said.

In his extempore speech in Hindi, Modi rebutted Singh on several issues and
said the "nation is restless for change".

"I had expected the Prime Minister to do something that would boost the
confidence of our jawans, to give our army the strength, but regretably that
 did not happen. I share the concern voiced by Rashhtrapatiji in his address
 to the nation," Modi said.

Mukherjee had voiced his concern over the killing of five Indian soldiers on
August six by Pakistan Army along the Line of Control in Poonch sector of
Jammu and Kashmir. The President had also warned Pakistan that "patience
 has limits" and that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure internal
security and protect territorial integrity.

Taking forward his political battle, Modi dared the Prime Minister to a public
debate on governance and development.

"You are ruling a big country, we are managing a small state. I challenge
 the Prime Minister to a debate on the issue of development and good
governance. A contest between the government sitting in Delhi and Gujarat,
"
 he said.

Targeting the PM repeatedly for his speech at the Red Fort, Modi said,
 "I am wondering that despite your name being included among those
 who have unfurled the tri-color on maximum occasions, you are saying
the same things which were said by Pandit Nehru in his first address
to our nation." "The same problems and concerns are highlighted by
you today which were mentioned by Nehru in his first speech.
The question arises what did you do for the past 60 years," he asked.

"Mr Prime Minister, you have referred to former Prime Minister
Narsimha Rao while talking about the prevailing economic conditions
of the country. But I want to ask you who is responsible for the way
our Rupee is getting devalued, the way it is heading towards crisis,
" he said.

"Suppose we don't immediately fix the responsibility, but at least
 you could have told the nation how you will strengthen the rupee,
 what economic steps would be taken. Instead you blamed it on
 global recession and said India cannot be left untouched by global
recession," Modi said.