Rahul Gandhi makes veiled attack on PM over Akbar issue

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi while apparently referring to the allegations of sexual harassment against Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar.

"Modiji says 'beti padhao, beti bachao' but it so happens that when complaint against his minister comes, he keeps quiet," Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting in Joura area of Morena district of Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress leader did not name any minister but was apparently referring to Akbar who is in the thick of a storm because of allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a number of women journalists.

Akbar, a former journalist, has rejected the allegations against him and has filed a defamation case against one of the complainant journalists.

Gandhi, in his address, went on to attack Modi over various other issues.

"When an Uttar Pradesh MLA rapes a woman, UP CM Yogi (Adityanath) keeps quiet and the prime minister keeps quiet. Their true slogan should be 'beti padhao aur beti ko BJP ke neta, mantri aur MLA se bachao," he said.

Gandhi is on a two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh where Assembly polls are scheduled to take place on November 28.

Significantly, Tuesday's public meeting in Joura was attended by senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who had been conspicuous by his absence during most of the programmes and rallies addressed by Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh over the last few weeks.

Among the state leaders, Gandhi has been mostly accompanied by state Congress president Kamal Nath and the party's campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia during his programmes in Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, a video went viral in which Digvijay Singh is heard saying that his party's votes get reduced if he campaigns for it.

Continuing his tirade against the prime minister, Gandhi said Modi had "claimed that he wants to be a 'chowkidar' (watchman of the country) but he actually proved to be a 'chowkidar' of Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi and has been working for them since last four years."
Later, the Congress president conducted a road show from Joura to Morena