New Delhi:
On the day Narendra Modi took his poll battle to Nitish Kumar's Bihar, Rahul Gandhi sought a record fourth term for Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. And that too from the same ground where his mother successfully launched Congress' Delhi campaign.
"I was speaking to the Congress president yesterday and asked her: who is a Congress believer? She said anyone who stands for the weak and the marginalized," said Rahul Gandhi, trying to define what his party stands for. In recent times, Mr Gandhi has often described Mr Modi as anti-poor.
Far away in Patna, Mr Modi responded, "The Congress government does not care about the poor. Congress leaders have not seen poverty. I was born in poverty and know what it is."
Given that Mr Modi is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Mr Gandhi is expected to be the Congress' pick for the post if the party wins a third straight term in next year's general elections, comparisons between them are inevitable.
Mr Modi is a crowd-puller and powerful orator, often engaging with the crowds, but is seen to making personal attacks.
Mr Gandhi is a star campaigner for his party but his speeches are informal. And some of his remarks have been severely criticized.
A couple of days ago, at an election rally, Rahul Gandhi courted controversy when he said intelligence bureau officials had briefed him that Muslim youths from Muzaffarnagar were being lured by Pakistani agencies.
"Rahul Gandhi speaks from his heart and does not read from prepared text," Salman Khursid had told NDTV earlier this week, defending Rahul's Muzaffarnagar comment.
Mr Gandhi too, though, has now started an interactive style of public speaking.
Another clear difference is the planning and scale of the rallies. Mr Modi's rallies are planned to the last detail, hi-tech and innovative: from asking people to buy tickets to relaying his speeches on cell phones to providing hi-end footage for channels.
On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi's rallies are much more conventional in terms of technology or media coverage.
Though political parties argue that elections in India are not only about personalities but also ideologies and policies, it is increasingly becoming clear that for the Congress and the BJP, 2014 campaign may revolve around Mr Modi and Mr Gandhi.
"I was speaking to the Congress president yesterday and asked her: who is a Congress believer? She said anyone who stands for the weak and the marginalized," said Rahul Gandhi, trying to define what his party stands for. In recent times, Mr Gandhi has often described Mr Modi as anti-poor.
Far away in Patna, Mr Modi responded, "The Congress government does not care about the poor. Congress leaders have not seen poverty. I was born in poverty and know what it is."
Given that Mr Modi is the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Mr Gandhi is expected to be the Congress' pick for the post if the party wins a third straight term in next year's general elections, comparisons between them are inevitable.
Mr Modi is a crowd-puller and powerful orator, often engaging with the crowds, but is seen to making personal attacks.
Mr Gandhi is a star campaigner for his party but his speeches are informal. And some of his remarks have been severely criticized.
A couple of days ago, at an election rally, Rahul Gandhi courted controversy when he said intelligence bureau officials had briefed him that Muslim youths from Muzaffarnagar were being lured by Pakistani agencies.
"Rahul Gandhi speaks from his heart and does not read from prepared text," Salman Khursid had told NDTV earlier this week, defending Rahul's Muzaffarnagar comment.
Mr Gandhi too, though, has now started an interactive style of public speaking.
Another clear difference is the planning and scale of the rallies. Mr Modi's rallies are planned to the last detail, hi-tech and innovative: from asking people to buy tickets to relaying his speeches on cell phones to providing hi-end footage for channels.
On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi's rallies are much more conventional in terms of technology or media coverage.
Though political parties argue that elections in India are not only about personalities but also ideologies and policies, it is increasingly becoming clear that for the Congress and the BJP, 2014 campaign may revolve around Mr Modi and Mr Gandhi.
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