Rajkot/New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI): Six months ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sounded the poll bugle, saying the Congress has no chance to “survive” even as supporters of his bete noire Sanjay Joshi staged protests.

The BJP strongman also intensified his attack on the Centre, asserting it has “disappointed” people as a result of scams, corruption and rising prices and taunted it for not realising that the “Congress ship is sinking.” Assembly elections in Gujarat are due in December.

Congress hit back at Modi for his “sinking ship” remark, saying he was making wild allegations to divert attention from the real issues in Gujarat.

“The only boat that is slam dunk in water is the BJP because of all the loose canons that are rolling wildly at its deck,” party spokesperson Manish Tewari said in Delhi.

The Chief Minister’s remarks in his address to party members on the concluding session of two-day BJP state executive meeting in Rajkot came even as posters supporting Joshi, who was forced to make an exit from BJP, and apparently targeting Modi appeared around the meeting venue.

As the “poster war” continued, some of the dissident workers also protested wearing masks of Joshi and carrying placards, at about 200 metres from the venue, and they were detained by the police. “Assembly elections are likely to be held in Gujarat by year end and people have to decide to choose between BJP’s politics of development and Congress’s caste-based politics,” Modi said.

“We have won in 2002, 2007 and in 2012 Assembly elections, the condition is more favourable for BJP compared to 2002 and 2007 as people of the country are disappointed with Congress rule at the Centre,” Modi said.

The government in Delhi does not know that there was a “hole in the ship”, he said, adding the “Congress ship is sinking” as it has hurt and miscalculated human power.