Narendra Modi opens BJP’s 2014 campaign

Positioning himself as a national leader ready for a bigger role, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched an all-out attack on the Gandhi family and the Congress, asking BJP cadres to launch a "second freedom struggle” to overthrow the party that was “destroying the country like a termite”. ' With the possibility of the BJP naming him prime ministerial candidate growing, Modi stuck to the script — rousing oratory with a dash of hyperbole — as he spoke for more than an hour on the concluding day of the BJP’s three-day conclave here on Sunday. The way ahead, he said, was for the BJP to become the alternative. “Whether we move forward or not, the nation is already on the move. It has decided to throw the Congress out,” he said. The rhetoric was shrill as Modi sought to address the party cadres, who have been calling for him to lead the BJP into 2014 polls. “The Congress is destroying this country like termites… The only medicine for this ailment is sweat of the BJP worker.” Comparing the 'task' of overthrowing the Congress to a second freedom struggle, Modi said while the first brought Swaraj (self-rule), the second would bring Suraaj (good governance). The Congress, he said, was “a party of commission” and the BJP “a party with mission”. He accused the Gandhi family of putting “interests” of its members above national interests and referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- without naming him -- as a “night watchman” keeping the seat warm for the “the family”.