PM Modi alleged Jawaharlal Nehru's pictures made the world call India a country of snake charmers.
A day after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen holding up snakes during an interaction with snake charmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused her of projecting an image of the country that did not sit well with the reality.
"Now it is 'mouse charmers' and not 'snake charmers'," PM Modi said today, referring to young Indians in the Information Technology (IT) sector.
He did not directly name the Congress general secretary.
Priyanka Gandhi was campaigning in her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency of Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli when she picked up snakes from a box and petted them.
"Nothing will happen, it's fine," she had said when someone warned her against holding a snake.
At an election rally in Rajasthan's Bikaner, PM Modi referred to a photo of Jawaharlal Nehru.
"There was a time when the 'naamdars' (dynasts) of the Congress used to feel happy showing snake charmers to foreign guests," he said.
"There is popular picture of the first prime minister showing a snake charmer to foreign guests. It is available on social media. He was feeling proud," he said.
Such pictures made the world call India a country of snake charmers, PM Modi alleged.
"The fourth generation of the 'naamdar' family is doing this now as well," he added.
"Now it is 'mouse charmers' and not 'snake charmers'."
He said the country's young people have changed the image of the country by making a name in the field of IT.
"But the fourth generation (of the family) is seeking votes by showing snake charmers," he said.
He also accused the Congress of doing nothing for the welfare of the nomadic community of snake charmers.