Rahul calls PM 'chor,' draws flak from BJP

Citing examples of the controversial Rafale deal and fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and coined a new slogan, 'Gali gali mein shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai.'

While addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Dungarpur, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister didn't have a reply to his questions on the Rafale deal which he raised in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session.

"Modi ji said that he does not want to be the Prime Minister of this country. He said he wants to be the 'chowkidar' (security guard). Today, people are raising their voices - 'Gali gali mein shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai'," the Congress president said.

The Gandhi scion later went on to chant the slogan again after he questioned why Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is "not getting jailed for allowing Vijay Mallya to run away from the country."

Soon after Rahul Gandhi's comments, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani criticised the Congress president and said that he has no regard for the prime minister's post.

"People of the country know that Rahul Gandhi lacks vision and a desire for development, and the desperation of Rahul Gandhi to be in the news is very obvious with the atrocious statements that he has given," Irani said.