Congress government is for the rich, says Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, addressing a rally in Rajasthan Friday accused the Congress of being a government for the rich, and said it preferred doling out grains to liquor manufactures rather than to the poor.

Modi was addressing a gathering at Rawan Ka Chabutara ground in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district, some 350 km from state capital Jaipur.

Jodhpur is the home district of the state's Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

"The Supreme Court asked the government to give grains to the poor. The government did not do that. They let it rot and gave it to alcohol manufactures at cheap rates. Should wheat be used to fill the stomach of the poor or bottles of alcohol? A government cannot and should not be for the rich," Modi said, as people shouted slogans and danced.

Modi was in Jodhpur two days before the state goes to assembly polls.

The ground at Rawan Ka Chabutara are famous for the Dusshera Mela. This Friday, it was swarming with people.

About 60,000 people gathered inside the ground. Those who could not find space within, stood on the road outside, trying to catch a glimpse of the Gujarat chief minister.

The crowd chanted and shouted slogans as Modi, in his usual style, continued to criticise the Congress and took pot-shots at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi.

"Several countries - many much smaller than ours - got independence after us. But today, they are more developed countries. It was due to bad governance that situations in our country are worse. Bad governance disappoints the people and creates an atmosphere of mistrust and even makes people angry," Modi said.

Taking swipes at Rahul Gandhi, Modi, referring to him again as "Shahzada", said that he did not trust the people of Rajasthan.

"The country's courts, Rajasthan's governor and even Shahzada don't trust the Rajasthan government. How can you?" Modi asked the crowd.

He said that Gandhi came to visit Bharatpur district after communal violence in September 2011.

Gopalgarh in Bharatpur had seen communal violence September 2011, in which at least 10 lives were lost.

"Shahzada did not even tell Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot about his visit. Shahzada visited the place on a history-sheeter's bike. He seems to believe a history-sheeter more than his party's chief minister," Modi said.