Rahul slams Modi on snoopgate, Gujarat model

Says if the key of the nation is handed over to Modi, he will promote an industrialist like Adani

Slamming Narendra Modi over snoopgate controversy, Rahul Gandhi today said Gujarat government has no regard for women as it gets their phones tapped and cautioned that giving him the key of power would not be good for the country.

Addressing election rallies in Jalaun and Sitapur, the Congress Vice President said Modi gave 45,000 acre of land belonging to farmers to Adani group at the rate of Rupee one per square metre, but not a single industry was set up.

He said that in turn Adani sold the land at the rate of Rupees eight per sq metre. "This is Modi's Gujarat model," he said.

"Modi says make him the guard of the country, hand him the key of the country. But if the key is handed over to him, he will again promote an industrialist like Adani, whereas Congress thinks that not one, but several industrialists should be produced," he said.

"In Gujarat, Modi gets the phone of women tapped. Modi makes huge promises of giving respect to the women. In reality Modi's Gujarat government does not respect the women, this is the reason it gets their phones tapped," he said.

Priyanka Gandhi yesterday took on Modi by raking up the "snoopgate" controversy surrounding him and said leaders who indulge in wrong acts against women should be "thrown out".

The BJP reacted by accusing Congress of being confused about its poll campaign and strategy and said its top leadership continued to launch personal attacks on BJP leaders while resenting such attacks on their own leaders.

It was alleged that Gujarat authorities had carried out illegal surveillance on a young woman in 2009 on direction of Modi, a charge rejected by BJP.

Rahul said BJP wanted that the son of a poor should remain poor, a farmer's son should do agriculture operations, whereas Congress wanted that a poor man's son becomes doctor or engineer or study abroad.

Continuing his tirade against the "Gujarat model" of development, Rahul claimed farmers in Gujarat would have starved to death had the Centre not implemented MNREGA.