Bhagwant Mann accused Congress MLAs of switching sides to the rival parties.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today reacted sharply to Rahul Gandhi's remarks that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) played a big role in Congress' poor show in the recently-concluded Gujarat Assembly elections.
"How many times did Rahul Gandhi visit Gujarat. Only once, he wanted to win the election with a single visit to the state," Mr Mann said launching a scathing attack on the Congress MP who is currently leading his party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' through the country.
"Elections were held where the sun is set (Gujarat), Rahul Gandhi started his 'padyatra' from the place where the sun rises first (Kanyakumari). Let him correct his timing first," he said.
"Congress is not about change, it's all about exchange," Mr Mann said.
He accused the Congress MLAs of crossing over to the rival parties. "The party has become so poor that it sell its MLAs to the rival parties to form government when they lack numbers. The party is in coma," Mr Mann said.
"Congress made government in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. But the BJP is currently ruling both the states" he said.
Mr Gandhi had said that Congress would have won in Gujarat if AAP was not put up as a proxy.
"If AAP had not been put up as a proxy, we would have probably beaten the BJP. AAP was used to target Congress," Mr Gandhi said.
AAP had claimed it was the main rival to the BJP and would form the government. It did manage to get a foot in the door, by winning five seats, but fell way short of its lofty ambitions.
The BJP won 156 out of the total 182 seats, the best seat tally for any political party in Gujarat's electoral history, beating Congress' 37-year-old record of 149 seats in the 1985 elections. Until now, the BJP's best seat tally was 127 in the 2002 polls.
Congress, with just 17 seats, saw a major loss of fortunes from its 2017 tally of 77.