Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images], reacting to the charges of Congress president Sonia Gandhi [Images], on Sunday said it is the grand old party which is "hand in glove" with "maut ke saudagar" (merchants of death).

"The main conspirator of the Parliament attack case Afzal Guru has been awarded death sentence by the Supreme Court, but the ruling Congress government has not hanged him for the last one-and-half years," he said addressing an election rally in Surat.

Earlier Sonia Gandhi, at a public meeting in Navsari district, had described the Modi government as "dishonest and merchants of death".

"Why is the government of Sonia Gandhi trying to save a terrorist like Afzal Guru? This shows who is with the merchants of deaths. I have been fighting these merchants of deaths while the Congress is with them," the BJP leader remarked.

The chief minister said Sonia called Gujarat the land of Godse. "This is the land of Mahatma Gandhi [Images] and Sardar Vallabhai Patel. To call it a land of Godse is an insult to the great tradition of the state. People of Gujarat will teach
the Congress a lesson in the coming elections," Modi said.

"My government has not allowed mafias and terrorists to make foothold in Gujarat, when 30 per cent of the total districts in the country are infected either by terrorism or Naxalism," he said.

Modi said, "Sonia had searched for the choicest of the abuses from the dictionary and hurled at me. I have maintained a clean image in public life and nobody -- not even the media-- has pointed a finger at me on the issue of corruption."
"By defaming Gujarat, the Congress will not be able to come to power in the state," the BJP leader added.