In Bhopal, Rahul calls Chouhan "scheme-announcing" machine

Stepping up his attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday called Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan a "scheme-announcing" machine.

Addressing Congress party workers in Bhopal, the Gandhi scion said, "Just like Sachin Tendulkar was known as the run-making machine by cricket fans, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh is also "scheme-announcing" machine, he announces schemes wherever he goes but does not do anything about it later. Madhya Pradesh has become number one in unemployment, corruption and rapes. This is the truth of Madhya Pradesh and India."

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul said, "The Prime Minister promised jobs and also assured farmers of better conditions, but nothing has been fulfilled. He said that he did not want to become the Prime Minister but wanted to become the Choukidar (security guard), yet Vijay Mallya ran away."

Raising Mallya's claim of having met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before fleeing the country in 2016, Gandhi said, "A few days back, Mallya said that before fleeing the country he met the Finance Minister and informed him that he was going to London. Even Jaitley admitted to this but he did not inform the Central Bureau of Investigation or Enforcement Directorate, instead he diluted the lookout notice."

Mallya, who left India in March 2016, claimed that he had met the Finance Minister before leaving India. However, Jaitley, who was the Finance Minister in 2016, rebuffed the claims made by the fugitive liquor baron.