Smriti Irani can be seen pausing during her speech, as the crowd roared.
Highlights
- BJP's Smriti Irani campaigned in Bhopal ahead of sixth phase of polls
- She asked the crowd if they had received farm loan waivers as promised
- Smriti Irani had lost to Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in 2014 polls
As Union Minister Smriti Irani campaigned in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday ahead of the sixth phase of voting, the Congress tweeted a video claiming that one of her attacks on their chief Rahul Gandhi had backfired.
In the video, the senior BJP leader is heard asking a crowd at her rally in Ashoknagar, about 200 km from state capital Bhopal, whether they had received farm loans waivers from the state government as promised by Mr Gandhi.
A cry of "no" follows her question, but it seems to be drowned by "yes, we have".
The video was shared by the Madhya Pradesh Congress on Twitter. Smriti Irani can be seen pausing during her speech as the crowd roared.
"Now even the people have started calling out their lies," said the Congress, captioning the video.
NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the video.
Rahul Gandhi, against whom Ms Irani is contesting from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi seat, has made farm loan waivers his big poll promise in the national election as well. Farmers' distress has been a highlight of the Congress's election campaign, with the party promising bringing a separate budget for farmers aimed at farm loan waivers and fairer prices for crops.
Smriti Irani had lost to Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2014 national elections, but by a margin of around one lakh in a family stronghold he had won since 2004. She has been accusing Mr Gandhi of neglecting his constituency. Her attacks intensified after the Congress president decided to contest from a second constituency - Kerala's Wayanad - for the first time.
Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have often attacked the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh on the issue of farm loan waivers.
Rahul Gandhi has often bragged about implementing the loan waivers immediately after the Congress came to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in December.