Stung by repeated barbs by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders at former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "feebler even than that of a mouse".
"The voice of the PM, who has given the clarion call of Make in India, is not of a roaring lion, but even feebler than that of a mouse," Rahul told an election meeting in Mahsi assembly constituency Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich that goes to polls on February 27.
His retort came hours after BJP president Amit Shah at a rally in Azamgarh, nearly 300 km away, mocked Rahul for "often asking" as to what the Modi government has done for the country.
"Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother (Congress president Sonia Gandhi)," Shah had said.
Peeved over the remark, Rahul questioned, "What is the utility of these punchlines?"
Ridiculing Modi's 'Make in India' campaign, he said almost everywhere items 'Made in China' are readily available. "Even my phone is made in China," he said.
The Congress leader accused the PM of spitting communal venom and spreading hatred since the SP-Congress alliance was forged.
Rahul said, "PM Modi has been benevolent towards the rich and has waived their loans, but not the loans of farmers."
In an apparent reference to the PM's "adopted son of UP" remark, Rahul said Modi might claim relationships wherever he wants "but relationships should not be confined to lip service."
"PM Modi made a film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (promising achchhe din), but it later became Sholay (of Gabbar Singh fear) when notes were banned," he said.
"Not a single person accused of keeping black money has been jailed and 94 per cent of black money is still stashed away in foreign countries," he added.
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Men of steel are needed to solve UP's problem: Shah's salvo at Rahul
Amit Shah pilloried Rahul Gandhi quoting former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit's statement that he "is still not mature and needs some time".
"If he is not mature, then why has he been enforced upon Uttar Pradesh? Is this a political laboratory or learning ground for someone?" Shah asked at an election rally in Azamgarh.
Noting that the state faces a plethora of problems, he said "men of steel" are needed to solve them.
"Problems of Uttar Pradesh can be solved only under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Shah said.
Citing BJP's election manifesto, which claims there has been significant decline in cattle count in UP under the Samajwadi Party rule, he said that if his party forms government, it would shut all slaughter houses and ensure that instead of "streams of blood", those of milk and ghee flow.
Shah said that the BJP tsunami would help the party get two-thirds majority in the 403-member assembly and put an end to "misrule" of the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party over the last 14 years when development "took a backseat" in the state.
"There is an acute shortage of electricity, medicines and the common citizens, especially women and traders are feeling very much unsafe," he claimed, adding farmers are yet to get their dues from the state government.
Mounting an attack on the SP-Congress alliance, he said, "It is quite amusing that one prince is giving tough times to his mother, the other to his father, and both are troubling UP."
Seeking a performance report from the Congress, Shah said, "Your (Rahul's) family has ruled the country for over 60 years. What has it done for the country? Rahul must answer this."
"Rahul asks what the Modi government has done for the country. Rahul Baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard by you and your mother," he said.
The BJP president urged voters to uproot the current SP government from the state, and said 'achchey din' (good days) would dawn upon the state on March 11 when the results are out.
