Karnataka election: Rahul Gandhi also addressed a gathering from a bullock cart
Campaigning for the Saturday Karnataka election, Rahul Gandhi today used the mobile phone analogy to charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi operates only on "speaker mode or airplane mode".
The Congress president had stopped to speak to reporters while campaigning in the Kolar region when he debuted a barb at the Prime Minister and a
simpler mode of travelling in the interiors -- the cycle.
"A cellphone has three modes, a work mode, a speaker mode and an airplane mode. Modi-
ji airplane mode
aur speaker mode
chalate hai.
Kaam (work)
ka mode
nahichalate hai. (Modi is on airplane or speaker mode. He is never on the work mode)," the 47-year-old taunted, questioning PM Modi's work since he came to power in 2014. The comments were seen as aimed at
PM Modi's campaign speeches and also his foreign visits.
Karnataka election: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally in the southern state
The retort came from BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. "Rahul Gandhi is speaking about the speaker and airplane mode... the only mode during the era of the Congress party was corruption mode. Today, thankfully, the country has come out of corruption mode and country is in performance mode," Mr Patra sneered.
Rahul Gandhi also addressed a gathering from a bullock cart and targeted the central government on fuel prices.
"You want to take money from the pockets of those driving scooters, trucks, buses and other vehicles in the country and want to give it your rich friends," he said.
During a three-day visit, the Congress chief will campaign in Bengaluru Rural, Chikkballapura, Tumakuru districts and Bengaluru city. He has also been the prime target of digs from PM Modi and the BJP.
Results will be declared in Karnataka on May 15, three days after voting for the state's 224-member assembly.