On PM's 'Khata-Khat' Jibe, Akhilesh Yadav's 'Fata-Fatt' Response

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Friday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "khata-khat" jibe at the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, and said the public is now going to remove him from the top post "fata-fatt, fata-fatt, fata-fatt (quickly)".

Mr Yadav targeted the Prime Minister while addressing an INDIA bloc rally here in the presence of Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also joined the public meeting later.

Mr Yadav said, "They (BJP and PM Modi) are saying that we will go abroad, but the people of our country are aware, they know that he (PM Modi) has sent his important people and friends abroad one after the other. His friends, one after the other, fled abroad 'khata-khat khata-khat (swiftly)."

Accusing the Modi government of drowning the country in debt, Mr Yadav said, "Now, the public is telling them that they will remove you fata-fatt, fata-fatt, fata-fatt."

He also said that those who asserted they will not indulge in corruption themselves nor allow others to indulge in corruption ("na khaunga, na khane dunga"), have swallowed everything and are saying "gata-gat gata-gat".

"Sab dakar gaye aur keh rahen hain gata-gat gata-gat. (They have not even burped after devouring electoral bonds)," he said.

Addressing a public meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi had said the INDIA bloc will disintegrate post-elections and Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav will go abroad on a summer vacation 'khata-khat, khata-khat'.

He used the 'khata-khat, khata-khat' phrase at a rally in Fatehpur on Friday as well.

"The dreams of 'panja' (Congress's poll symbol) and 'cycle' (SP's poll symbol) have shattered 'khata-khat, khata-khat'. Now they are planning for post-June 4 as to who should be blamed for the defeat 'khata-khat, khata-khat'. And, someone was telling me that tickets for foreign trips have also been booked 'khata-khat, khata-khat'."

PM Modi's jibe came in response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi often using the phrase "khata-khat khata-khat" to claim that a fixed stipend would flow into the accounts of poor women if his party comes to power.

Hitting out at PM Modi without taking his name, Mr Yadav said at his rally on Friday, "There is a very big leader of the country who feigns a relationship with every place he goes."

Pointing towards the crowd, Mr Yadav said, "Let them also see and hear that Rahul Gandhiji's true relationship is with Raebareli. If 'Ra' is for Raebareli then 'Ra' is also for Rahul." "Those who do not understand counting should also understand that one plus one has become 11 and the BJP has become nau do gyaraha (fled). Those who have seen the four phases of elections know that the BJP is defeated," Mr Yadav said.

Taking aim at MLA Manoj Pandey, who left the SP and joined the BJP, Mr Yadav said, "I heard that our second traitor has also gone there (to BJP). One speciality of the fraudster who has just gone there is that wherever he goes, he digs a hole."

Mr Pandey, who came out in support of the BJP candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year, joined the BJP in Raebareli on Friday and sat next to Home Minister Amit Shah on the stage. Recently Shah had also visited his residence.

Voting will be held in the fifth phase in Raebareli on May 20, where BJP has fielded state minister Dinesh Pratap Singh against Congress' Rahul Gandhi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)