Modi hits back at Sonia

He said Rahul speaks about poverty only when media is around

Returning Sonia Gandhi’s barb, Gujarat chief minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said no party can be more poisonous than the Congress, as it has thrived on what the Congress chief had called the “poison of power” for almost half a century.     

A day after Sonia Gandhi said the BJP was a party of poisonous people, Modi, addressing an election rally here, said Rahul Gandhi had once recalled that his mother Sonia had compared power to poison.     

“Madam’s Shehzada once said in Jaipur that his mother told him that power is poison. They ruled the country for almost 50 years since independence...Then who has tasted poison for longer period...It is the Congress...Then who else can be more poisonous (than Congress),” Modi said.

He said Rahul speaks about poverty only when the media is around and asked why he hasn't done anything for people living in the slum adjacent to his house.     

“Shehzada talks about the poor and poverty, but only where there is media. Twice or thrice in a year, a photo shoot takes place for showing that he is concerned about poverty.     

“In Delhi, yesterday, people told me that Rahul’s bungalow is in the constituency of the Delhi chief minister and adjacent to the bungalow, there is a slum area of 800 people but there are only two public toilets.     

“800 people and only two toilets...A resident would have to wait for months for his turn to come. But all these things are not visible to Congress, they only see poverty where media is present. They do not care for others,” Modi said.     

Attacking the government over rising inflation, he said the people should forget, and not forgive, Congress in the election as it had easily forgotten its promise made in the 2009 general elections of controlling prices in 100 days after coming to power.     

“Before last elections, Congress had promised to control inflation in 100 days, but what happened? Prices went high and there is no control over the skyrocketing inflation.     

“All the three leaders — Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi — visited Rajasthan, but none of them talked about inflation and did not say what their government did to control it," he said.