PM serving interests of billionaires at expense of poor: Rahul Gandhi

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused him of serving the interests of billionaires at the expense of India's poor.

Addressing an election rally in Jharkhand's Godda district, Gandhi claimed that while the opposition bloc INDIA was fighting to protect the Constitution, the BJP was trying to dump it in the trash bin.

"PM Modi says Rahul is flashing red book. Its content is important, not colour. Had you read it, you would not have been spreading hatred and dividing society," Gandhi said.

"It is a fight of ideology between the INDIA bloc and BJP-RSS. We are protecting the Constitution and BJP-RSS is trying to dump it in the trash bin. They are spreading violence and trying to divide society on the basis of caste, creed and religion," he alleged.

Maintaining that he was not "afraid" of Modi or "his 56-inch chest", Gandhi said, "He is a puppet of billionaires."  He accused the PM of giving lessons to people during the day while enjoying the weddings of industrialists at night.

Gandhi claimed that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra was toppled to grab land.

He alleged that Modi was trying to hand over land worth Rs 1 lakh crore in Mumbai's Dharavi to an industrialist.

Advocating for the need for a nationwide caste census, the Congress leader claimed that it would change the face of India.

The caste census would reveal positions of tribals, Dalits and OBCs in various institutions, he said.

"Caste census is bound to happen," he said.

"We will demolish the 50 per cent reservation ceiling, PM Modi can do whatever he can," he added.

Gandhi said that though PM Modi speaks of his respect for the poor, but does not waive the farm loans.

He also targeted the BJP over the arrest of JMM leader Hemant Soren, and said, "A tribal CM elected by you was put behind the bars in Jharkhand."  Accusing the BJP of spreading "hate and violence", Gandhi said it can be eliminated through love.

"Ours is 'mohabbat ki dukan', they have 'nafrat ka bazar'," he said.