Rahul slams PM Modi for remarks against father

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday expressed astonishment over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment against his father Rajiv Gandhi.

Addressing an election rally at Chandni Chowk Parliamentary Constituency here, Gandhi launched a scathing attack on PM Modi and said: "You speak bad about me and I will still send you love. Say whatever you want to, but keep one thing in mind that I hugged you in the Parliament last year and that hug will now destroy you on May 23."

While addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh on May 4, PM Modi had hit out at Rahul Gandhi, saying: "Your father was termed 'Mr Clean' by his courtiers, but his life ended as 'Bhrashtachari No 1'." He was apparently referring to Bofors scam, in which Rajiv Gandhi was an accused.

Continuing his tirade against Modi, he accused him of taking away the money from the pockets of the poor people and handing it over to Anil Ambani. "Now that he has been caught, he has now come up with a new idea of calling himself 'chowkidar'. Rather than protecting people, you looted them and filled the pocket of Anil Ambani." he said.

Gandhi reiterated that if Congress is voted to power, he will provide Rs 72,000 per year to the poor under Congress' flagship Nyayntam Aay Yojna (NYAY). "Under NYAY, when Rs 72,000 per year will be sent directly to people's bank account then their purchasing power will increase which will lead to an increase in production and employment. Till your income is less than Rs 12,000, you will get Rs 72,000 per year. This scheme is a surgical strike on poverty," he said.

He also promised to introduce a dedicated budget for the farming sector. "This year, there would be two budget - national budget and farmers' budget," he said.

Reinstating his stand on the alliance with the Aam Admi Party (AAP), he said: "I told Kejriwal, if we aim to win 7 seats, you should keep 4 and we should fight from 3 seats. The moment we sealed the deal, he took a U-turn and started talking about giving him seats from Haryana and Punjab, as well. Now it is up to the people of New Delhi to decide if they want to give their votes to a person who cannot take a stand."

Delhi will go to polls on May 12 for the seven Lok Sabha seats at stake. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.