BJP promoting personality cult through Modi, Sharma

        Bangalore, Apr 10 (PTI) Union Commerce and Industry
Minister Anand Sharma today accused BJP of promoting the
"dangerous" practice of personality cult through Narendra Modi
and alleged that RSS was pushing for authoritarian system
through him.
        "Narendra Modi, through his thinking and practice is not
known to be democratic. He is intolerant, and he is arrogant
and lacks national vision," Sharma alleged here.
        Accusing BJP of showcasing one individual as the
"repository of collective wisdom of billions of people," he
told reporters, it was "promoting in Narendra Modi a dangerous
practice of personality cult".
        He alleged that RSS is pushing for authoritarian system
undermining parliamentary democracy, and "the real challenge
is...personality cult and the danger of authoritarianism."
        Hitting out at BJP for promoting individualism, he said,
"Narendra Modi is nominated by RSS. BJP which is RSS's
political front has rubber-stamped this nomination."
        Flaying the "Gujarat model", he said, "Things are shown in
such a way as though Narendra Modi has brought about
revolutionary changes in Gujarat, and it will be replicated
all over the country if voted to power."
        "Narendra Modi's personality is such he doesn't have
patience, he doesn't have humbleness, he is egoist, he thinks
he is the single man and there is no else like him. He has
shown this within his party by sidelining Advani, Murli
Manohar Joshi and Jaswant Singh has already quit BJP," he
said.
        Sharma charged BJP with plagiarism, claiming it had lifted
"the things" from the Congress manifesto and placed them in
its own by altering a few wordings.
        "First it was difficult for them to prepare a manifesto...
they have lifted the things from our manifesto and have
represented the same things just by altering the words. It is
a sort of plagiarism," he said.
        To a question on Modi's admission for the first time
regarding his marital status, he said, "...now that he is
contender for country's big post, he might have mentioned
because of it... only Narendra Modi can answer why he has
mentioned now, not earlier."