Looked Good Modiji, But It Was No Padmasana: Rahul Gandhi's Dig At PM

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi peppered his tirade against the notes ban with many digs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including one fashioned around his love for yoga. What the Prime Minister did on World Yoga Day was no Padmasana, commented the Congress Vice President.

"On Yoga Day, what he did looked good but it was not the Padmasana," Mr Gandhi said to loud cheers from hundreds of Congress members gathered at Delhi's Talkatora Stadium for the 'Jan Vedna Sammelan' yesterday.

"I notice these things."

The event was dedicated to highlighting what the party calls the suffering of people after the government's sudden ban on 500-and 1,000-rupee notes in November.

Questioning the Prime Minister's yoga proficiency, the 46-year-old Congress number 2 said: "I did yoga for a while. I am no expert. But my yoga teacher told me whoever does yoga can do the Padmasana, and those who can't do the Padmasana can't do yoga."

Mr Gandhi also mocked Prime Minister Modi on his Swachh Bharat campaign, launched two years ago with the Prime Minister taking a broom to a dirty street in Delhi.

"You can see the difference between us and the BJP and RSS. It is visible if you see carefully. It can't be hidden. PM Modi was holding the broom a certain way," he said, demonstrating it with his hands.

His jibes included "Mitron" or friends, a word used often by Prime Minister Modi.

Mr Gandhi also used another term made famous by PM Modi, saying, "People keep asking when will Acche Din come. They will come only when the Congress comes back to power in 2019."

The BJP's Shahnawaz Hussein dismissed Mr Gandhi's attack saying no one is listening. "Rahul Gandhi was expressing his and not the poor's pain. The whole country is today backing Modi ji in this war against black money."