Assembly elections 2013: Campaign trail heats up as Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi exchange jibes

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi were addressing rallies in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where they once again targeted each other.

Sonia Gandhi attacked Narendra Modi saying, "BJP leaders are day-dreaming about power.... They are so engrossed in their greed for power that they are pulling each other down... If they think they can win hearts of the people by using flowery language, they are mistaken. India is not just any other country. "

Noting that India gives much regard to composite culture and the principles of brotherhood, compassion and sacrifice, Sonia Gandhi said, "They have never understood it nor will they ever understand. They turn a brother against a brother for their selfish ends. There is a need to be cautious about them."

This is for the first time that Gandhi has targeted the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate so hard. It came a day after Modi, in a rally at Chhattisgarh, said that since she is ill, she should let her son Rahul take over.

"The shehzada says we have to change the system. Who put these systems in place for last 60 years? Who made them, Shehzade? Your father, your grandmother, your grandfather put these systems in place and then destroyed them for vested interests," Narendra Modi, who habitually targets Rahul Gandhi as 'Shehzada' or prince at his election rallies, said.

Playing to the crowd at a rally in Raigarh, Mr Modi paused dramatically after a sarcastic reference to 'Shehzada', and pretended to roll up both his sleeves in an exaggerated manner. The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate was rewarded with laughter for his efforts.

At another rally in Mahasamund, Mr Modi repeated his reference to Rahul Gandhi's "mama" or maternal uncle, which is being seen as an attempt to remind voters of the Italian origin of Mr Gandhi's mother, Sonia, who heads the Congress party.
"Ask the Shehzada, did he get the Rs. 10,000 crores that this state got, from his 'mama's' house?" he said, bringing up Mr Gandhi's comment that the central funds received by the state had been wasted by the BJP government.