Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Thursday continued their war of words even as Gujarat voted in the first phase of the state assembly elections.
"Do you have electricity? Do you have water? Do the youths here have jobs?" asked Gandhi while addressing a rally for the second phase of polls at Palanpur, district headquarters town of Banaskantha in north Gujarat, some 135 km from here.
To Gandhi's questions, the crowd roared a "no" in reply. "Well, I was told that Gujarat has been shining, all due to the efforts of one man," Rahul said.
Hours later, at a rally in Siddhpur in Patan district, Modi retorted: "Don't you get 24 hours electricity? 24 hours water? Do you need a generator?". "No", came the answer from the assembled crowd.
Modi then proceeded to attack Gandhi. "Rahul Gandhi, my father was not the PM. He was not even a sarpanch (village head). Still people love me," he said.
"Rahul baba, if you come for a rally, then do your homework. I knew immediately after I landed from the helicopter what you said," Modi said.
"Today, Rahul baba is here in Palanpur. Rahul baba, when you are on the helicopter, do see this large crowd," he said, adding: "Rahul doesn't know geography or history."
The two leaders also clashed during campaigning for the first phase of elections.
The first phase of voting for the Gujarat assembly ended Thursday. It covered the regions of Saurashtra and south Gujarat. In the next phase Dec 17, the regions of Kutch, north and central Gujarat will vote.
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