Rahul Gandhi's jab was at PM Modi's recent emotional outreach, in which he called Gujarat his "mother"
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, saying he was a "far better actor than Amitabh Bachchan, who does not need to wear contact lenses" to weep. He also repeated his assurance of loan waiver for farmers, accusing the ruling BJP of disregarding their interests.
With just a week to go before Gujarat assembly elections,
campaigning in Gujarat has entered a fever pitch. PM Modi and the Congress number 2 have been
criss-crossing Gujarat at a hectic pace, both focusing on the politically vital Saurashtra region.
At a rally in Amreli on Wednesday, Mr Gandhi referred to an emotional speech of the Prime Minister, made days after the demonetization announcement. The Prime Minister, he said, had "cried and announced on the television and media that if black money does not return before December 31 'you can hang Narendra Modi in public'... He acts better than Amitabh Bachchan," Mr Gandhi said.
The jab was at the Prime Minister's recent emotional outreach, in which he had called Gujarat his "mother".
Mr Gandhi's address was also directed at the farming community, which form a large section of the voters in Saurashtra.
Farmers in the region, most of them Patidars, have been upset with the government over the losses they have been incurring due to what they say is very low minimum support price. The face of Patidar agitation, 24-year-old Hardik Patel, who has declared support for Congress, has raised the issue at almost every meeting.
Touching upon the issue of Minimum Support Price, Mr Gandhi said, "When UPA was in power, cotton price was Rs 1,200 and Narendra Modiji demanded Rs 2,000 from the then central government. Today, in his government, cotton prices have fallen to Rs 800... The situation for groundnut crop is the same".
PM Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley say it is not their policy to waive farm loans, Mr Gandhi said. "They will let a farmer die but won't raise the MSP. Come December, when we will form the government, we will do it within 10 days," he told the gathering at Visavadar.