Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a serious personal attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him as a “thief (chor)”.

Rahul said people are now heard saying that the country’s “watchman” is a “thief”. “Galli galli mein shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai,” Rahul said at a rally in tribal-dominated Sagwara in poll-bound Rajasthan.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s “silence” on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France and the Modi Government’s “failure” to bring fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to book, he said he had asked questions on this in Parliament but got no reply, and took a jibe at Modi’s past assertions on tackling corruption.

Modi had said he did not want to become the country’s prime minister, but its ‘chowkidar’ (watchman), Rahul recalled. He added now it is heard on the streets that the country’s ‘chowkidar’ is a thief. He said this is what the people in Rajasthan and elsewhere in the country felt.

The Gandhi scion said people are disappointed with the BJP governments at the Centre and in Rajasthan and the Congress is now set to win. “Neither the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, nor their money can stop the change of Government in Rajasthan,” he said.

Referring to a recent row, Rahul claimed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had “admitted” that Vijay Mallya met him before leaving the country. “The Finance Minister allowed Vijay Mallya who defrauded banks to tune of Rs 9,000 crore to leave the country but the Prime Minister did not break his silence,” he said.

Earlier in the day, his party men responded to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s “clown prince” comment on the Congress chief, the party retaliated that Jaitley is desperate in his attempt to stay relevant as a ‘Court Jester’ to ‘Modi Sultanate’.

“Abuse, Diversion and Deception are the desperate tools of a ‘Lying -Jait-LIE’. Instead of hiding behind the cloak of expletives for the opposition, let FM coherently answer politically relevant issues on demonetization, rupee fall and the scandalous Rafale deal,” Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.

Mentioning about Modi’s monthly radio talk, Rahul in his rally speech said the prime minister speaks his ‘mann ki baat’ in all his speeches but the Congress wants to hear what the people say. The Congress chief said the promise to provide employment to two crore youths every year and the Make In India campaign had failed as phones, shoes and clothes carried the Made In China tag.

“We will make the people of the state secure and focus on providing employment. We want mobile phones with Made in Rajasthan tag,” he said. On the occasion Rahul tried to allay speculation over rifts in the state unit of the party by referring to a motorcycle ride that Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot took together.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a serious personal attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him as a “thief (chor)”.

Rahul said people are now heard saying that the country’s “watchman” is a “thief”. “Galli galli mein shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai,” Rahul said at a rally in tribal-dominated Sagwara in poll-bound Rajasthan.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s “silence” on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France and the Modi Government’s “failure” to bring fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to book, he said he had asked questions on this in Parliament but got no reply, and took a jibe at Modi’s past assertions on tackling corruption.

Modi had said he did not want to become the country’s prime minister, but its ‘chowkidar’ (watchman), Rahul recalled. He added now it is heard on the streets that the country’s ‘chowkidar’ is a thief. He said this is what the people in Rajasthan and elsewhere in the country felt.

The Gandhi scion said people are disappointed with the BJP governments at the Centre and in Rajasthan and the Congress is now set to win. “Neither the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, nor their money can stop the change of Government in Rajasthan,” he said.

Referring to a recent row, Rahul claimed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had “admitted” that Vijay Mallya met him before leaving the country. “The Finance Minister allowed Vijay Mallya who defrauded banks to tune of Rs 9,000 crore to leave the country but the Prime Minister did not break his silence,” he said.

Earlier in the day, his party men responded to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s “clown prince” comment on the Congress chief, the party retaliated that Jaitley is desperate in his attempt to stay relevant as a ‘Court Jester’ to ‘Modi Sultanate’.

“Abuse, Diversion and Deception are the desperate tools of a ‘Lying -Jait-LIE’. Instead of hiding behind the cloak of expletives for the opposition, let FM coherently answer politically relevant issues on demonetization, rupee fall and the scandalous Rafale deal,” Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.

Mentioning about Modi’s monthly radio talk, Rahul in his rally speech said the prime minister speaks his ‘mann ki baat’ in all his speeches but the Congress wants to hear what the people say. The Congress chief said the promise to provide employment to two crore youths every year and the Make In India campaign had failed as phones, shoes and clothes carried the Made In China tag.

“We will make the people of the state secure and focus on providing employment. We want mobile phones with Made in Rajasthan tag,” he said. On the occasion Rahul tried to allay speculation over rifts in the state unit of the party by referring to a motorcycle ride that Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot took together.