Modi-Yadav sweat it out to win hearts of voters

Modi, who became the Hindutva mascot after the BJP's victory in state assembly polls in his state two years ago in the backdrop of communal riots, used high-pitched rhetoric targeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin in his election rallies last night.

A rabble-rouser, Modi did not disappoint BJP supporters. "People do not rent their house or rooms to strangers. So how can they hand over the reins of the country to a foreigner?' he said in a clear reference to Italy-born Sonia.

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Taking a dig at Congress and Sonia, Modi said "earlier the slogan of Congress used to be 'Vande Mataram' (by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee) but now the party says 'Vande-Mata-Rome'."

"Congress leaders say they do not want Delhi to become another Gujarat.. I say if you want to become a Gujarat, you need a 46-inch chest," Modi said.

Referring to Congress' criticism of BJP's much-hyped "feel good" factor in Indian economy on booming economic growth, Modi said he has an explanation why Sonia does not find this factor working.

"Once we were at a village in Gujarat listening to a radio commentary of a cricket match in which Sunil Gavaskar scored a century. When Gavaskar scored the century, we all celebrated by clapping and distributing sweets but there were four foreign tourists who looked sad. I realized how can the foreigners feel good if Gavaskar scores a century? If India feels good, how can a Madam (Sonia) feel good," said Modi.