Rahul a novice, no match for Modi, says Badal

The oldest serving chief minister in the country, Parkash Singh Badal of Punjab feels that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is a "novice" and "no match" to the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

"Rahul Gandhi is a novice in public life and is hardly any match to the NDA's prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi," Badal, who is the patron of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, told the media persons in Shahkot town near here Wednesday.

The Akali Dal is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The Punjab chief minister said the country's prime minister should be a "learned personality with varied administrative and public experience". He said Gandhi lacked both.

"It is not possible for such a person to manage the huge responsibility of serving the nation on the top-most post," Badal said.

"On the other hand, Modi has proved his mettle time and again as an able administrator by driving the state of Gujarat on the path of progress," said Badal, who turns 86 next month.

Addressing a public rally in Shahkot, 175 km from here, Badal said neither Congress president Sonia Gandhi nor her son Rahul Gandhi have any sympathy for the common man.

He said India was facing external and internal crises because both these leaders were not even aware about the basic topography of the nation.

"The ignorance of the top leadership of the Congress is proving to be a bane for the entire nation as the faulty policies of the UPA have added to the woes of the common man," Badal said.