Rahul calls Modi 'bechendra', accuses him of selling hard-built PSUs

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday coined a new term "bechendra" (seller) to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi over proposed privatisation of some Public Sector Undertakings (PSU).

Gandhi said in a tweet that there was a sense of uncertainty and fear among the lakhs of the employees over privatisation reports.

He accused Modi of benefiting his friends with "suit-boot".

"BechendraModi is distributing he country's PSUs, built with hard work over the years, to his friends in suit-boot. There is a sense of uncertainty and fear among millions of PSU employees. I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all those employees in protest against this loot," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.

He also attached a cartoon in which Modi has depicted as selling Air India, Bharat Petroleum Co. Ltd (BPCL).

Gandhi's comments came amid reports of employees of BPCL planning a strike against the proposed privatisation.

Last week, the Congress accused the central government of trying to "surreptitiously sell" BPCL without parliamentary approval and said it also does not make any economic sense.