Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at the party's Adivasi-Kisan rally at Salumber, Udaipur
Udaipur:
If Narendra Modi picked election-bound Rajasthan to coin a sarcastic alphabet primer to attack the Congress with, Rahul Gandhi reinvented an old party slogan.
Addressing a rally in tribal-dominated Udaipur region, the Congress number 2 said instead of "Aadhi roti khayenge Congress ko jitayenge (Will eat half a roti and vote for the Congress) the new war cry should be, "Poori roti khayenge, 100 din kaam karenge, dawaiee lenge aur Congress ko jitayenge" (Eat full roti, work for 100 days, receive free medicines and vote for Congress).
Mr Gandhi highlighted welfare schemes on food security and land acquisition that his party has just pushed through Parliament and accused the opposition, chiefly the BJP, of being anti-poor. "The opposition wants that infrastructure should be developed - roads and airports should be developed...we say that infrastructure should be built, but the country will only progress when labourers and people contributing towards development have sufficient food to eat."
The Congress hopes the schemes will be big vote-getters in the general elections and Assembly elections in five states in November.
Mr Gandhi did not name Mr Modi but said, "one person came and made fun (of us)... No matter how much you criticise us, we won't accept it... we are fighting for the poor people in the country. I want to crush my dreams and make your dreams mine."
The comment seemed to be a dig at the Gujarat Chief Minister's prime ministerial aspirations.
Many expect the 2014 general elections to be a Narendra Modi versus Rahul Gandhi battle. Neither leader has been officially named as his party's candidate for prime minister yet, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to make a Modi-for-PM announcement any day now.
Senior Congressmen, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently, have indicated that Mr Gandhi is likely to be Prime Minister should the party win a third term in next year's elections. But the 43-year-old Congress number two casts himself as a reluctant leader, focussed more on welfare and building his party at the grassroots.
In contrast, Mr Modi seems to prepping for the role; he challenged the PM to a speech duel on Independence Day and recently addressed a rally in Chhattisgarh from a stage modelled on Delhi's Red Fort, from where Prime Ministers speak on August 15.
Addressing a rally in tribal-dominated Udaipur region, the Congress number 2 said instead of "Aadhi roti khayenge Congress ko jitayenge (Will eat half a roti and vote for the Congress) the new war cry should be, "Poori roti khayenge, 100 din kaam karenge, dawaiee lenge aur Congress ko jitayenge" (Eat full roti, work for 100 days, receive free medicines and vote for Congress).
Mr Gandhi highlighted welfare schemes on food security and land acquisition that his party has just pushed through Parliament and accused the opposition, chiefly the BJP, of being anti-poor. "The opposition wants that infrastructure should be developed - roads and airports should be developed...we say that infrastructure should be built, but the country will only progress when labourers and people contributing towards development have sufficient food to eat."
The Congress hopes the schemes will be big vote-getters in the general elections and Assembly elections in five states in November.
Mr Gandhi did not name Mr Modi but said, "one person came and made fun (of us)... No matter how much you criticise us, we won't accept it... we are fighting for the poor people in the country. I want to crush my dreams and make your dreams mine."
The comment seemed to be a dig at the Gujarat Chief Minister's prime ministerial aspirations.
Many expect the 2014 general elections to be a Narendra Modi versus Rahul Gandhi battle. Neither leader has been officially named as his party's candidate for prime minister yet, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to make a Modi-for-PM announcement any day now.
Senior Congressmen, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently, have indicated that Mr Gandhi is likely to be Prime Minister should the party win a third term in next year's elections. But the 43-year-old Congress number two casts himself as a reluctant leader, focussed more on welfare and building his party at the grassroots.
In contrast, Mr Modi seems to prepping for the role; he challenged the PM to a speech duel on Independence Day and recently addressed a rally in Chhattisgarh from a stage modelled on Delhi's Red Fort, from where Prime Ministers speak on August 15.
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