Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Saturday alleged the "chowkidar" was a "100 per cent chor" and the Lok Sabha polls was a fight between Anil Ambani and ordinary people and thieves and honest people.
Stepping up the campaign for the ruling Congress-JDS alliance on a day when the prime minister was also on a blitzkrieg in Karnataka, Gandhi said he wanted to know "why all the thieves have surnames of Modi."
The Congress president said he would not like to be the Chowkidar (watchman), but the voice of the people.
Continuing his vituperative attack on the Modi government over the Rafale fighter jet deal at a rally in Kolar, he said, "100 per cent. Chowkidar is a chor (thief)" and alleged that the prime minister stole Rs 30,000 crore and gifted it to his "thief friend" Anil Ambani.
"You stole Rs 30,000 crore and gifted to your thief friend.
You 100 per cent steal money. 'Chowkidar' is a thief. Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksy, Lalit Modi, Mallya, Anil Ambani and Narendra Modi - There is a group, a team of thieves," Gandhi said, attacking Modi, who has described himself as a "chowkidar" in his battle against graft.
He also mocked the surname Modi, saying, "I have a question. Why all the thieves have Modi in their names, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Narendra Modi? We don't know how many more such Modis will come out."
Gandhi also said Modi no longer spoke about farmers, jobs and corruption. "Unlike him, we don't tell lies.
At the Chitradurga rally, Gandhi said the 2019 Lok Sabha election is a fight between Anil Ambani and ordinary people, thieves and honest people and false promises and the truth.
"This election is between Anil Ambani and the common citizens, five years of 'Anyay' (injustice) and NYAY (justice/minimum income scheme), thieves and honest people and false promises and truth," Gandhi said.
He said the 2019 election is also a fight between ideologies, where there is hatred, anger and divisive politics on the one hand and love, affection and brotherhood on the other.
The fight is also about Modi's "lie" of depositing Rs 15 lakh into everyone's accounts and Rs 3.6 lakh into those of women living below the poverty line as promised by Congress.
Mocking the 'Chowkidar' description of himself by the Prime Minister in his fight against corruption, Gandhi sought to know whom the watchman guarded.
"Have you ever seen a Chowkidar outside the house of a farmer, labourer and unemployed? Chowkidar is found outside the house of Anil Ambani.
"This Chowkidar guarded 15 to 20 rich people," he said.
"The prime minister had promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh into everyone's accounts, but Amit Shah called it a Jumla, which, he said, was spelt just like that," said Gandhi.
He accused the prime minister of jailing the farmers and not Anil Ambani for allegedly defaulting on loans.
Addressing a rally at K R Nagar, Gandhi asked Congress and JD(S) workers to cooperate with each other and ensure the victory of the ruling alliance to defeat Modi, BJP and RSS.
His appeal comes amid squabblings between Congress and JD(S) workers at the grassroot level in several constituencies, causing worry to the ruling coalition, which is struggling to contain the damage.
