JOIN USThe Congress is projecting the softer side of vice president Rahul Gandhi, as someone who is a mentor to those in need and as someone concerned about those in distress.
Rahul had cut short his tour of Gujarat to visit the victims of the boiler blast at an NTPC power plant in Raebareli.
The Congress was quick to highlight Rahul's act of care, while comparing it with Modi's decision to go on with election campaigns in Himachal Pradesh.
The parents of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya recently thanked Rahul for keeping in touch with them after the tragic death of their daughter and for mentoring their son to become a pilot.
"My son is a pilot now only because of Rahul Gandhi," Badrinath Singh, Nirbhaya's father, said.
He recalled how Rahul counselled their son and got him enrolled in the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi at Fursatganj near Rae Bareli.
"He helped us emotionally, monetarily and in many other ways. How else would it be possible for us to make our son a pilot?" said Badrinath, who is employed at the Delhi International Airport Limited. He did not want to name his son.
"Thank you, Rahulji. 125 crore Indians expect this spirit of cooperation from you. The country runs on this spirit of cooperation and not on outlandish claims," Congress' chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Nirbhaya's brother has completed his flying course and is now training with a commercial airliner in Gurgaon.
"The Nirbhaya case shook the nation. Actions of Rahul Gandhi are louder than the jumlas of Narendra Modi," said Sushmita Dev, president of the All India Mahila Congress, responding to the parents' comments.
During the campaign trail in Gujarat, Rahul had obliged a teenager who was keen to get a selfie with him.
Congress also tried to project Rahul as a down-to-earth leader who stops by at roadside eateries for dinner.
A video of Rahul and Gujarat Congress leaders having dinner at a dhaba near Vapi in Gujarat was posted by the party.