Chhattisgarh, 20 April 2014

Sonia Gandhi’s speech in Amethi asking people to ensure the victory of Rahul Gandhi on Saturday invited barbs from BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who wondered how Rahul can lead the country when he cannot handle his constituency.

Modi kept up with his sharp attacks on the first family of the ruling party as he referred to ‘whopping rise’ in the assets of Rahul’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra and termed it the model of ‘ma-bete ki sarkar’.

‘Sonia told the people in Amethi to take care of her son.We are told that he will take care of the country. Tell me, is there any logic in this? One who is begging with the people in Amethi to take care of her son….If he can’t handle Amethi, then how can he handle the country,’ he told a rally in Sarguja.

Sonia had told a rally in Amethi on Saturday that the people should support policies of Congress and ensure victory of Rahul. ‘I have handed over Rahul to you in 2004 following the tradition of Indira Gandhi, who had handed over her son Rajiv Gandhi to you,’ she had said.

Criticised by Gandhis for selling people dreams and giving an impression that he has a magic wand to turn around the country, Modi tried to turn the tables as he said he often wondered who they were referring to as they never named anyone. He then cited a recent report in a US newspaper on Vadra’s fortunes and said sarcastically he finally realised who Gandhis spoke about after reading the story.

‘They spoke about a Class X pass youth who had only Rs 1 lakh in pocket and then went on to own Rs 300 crore in three years. This is the mother-son’s model. You heard about 2G, now hear about jijaji. Do we have to leave this country in their hands?,’ he said.

Accusing Rahul of misleading the country on issues of women’s safety, he said seven of the top 10 states in terms of crimes against women were ruled by Congress. ‘I think the new slogan of Congress is ‘har haath loot har bol jhoot’ .