A day after BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Rahul Gandhi could be from Mars, the Congress leader on Tuesday hit back by likening him to Hitler, without actually naming the Gujarat chief minister.

Launching his campaign in central Gujarat, a Congress stronghold, Rahul said that there were leaders like Hitler who just talked about themselves and wanted people to believe them.

“There are two types of leaders. One who meets with people, visits their homes like Gandhiji did and understands them and their problems. Such a leader is humble and has no arrogance, like Gandhiji,” Rahul said.

The Congress vice president went on to list out the achievements of the UPA government and said that Gujarat was a creation of the people not of one person or party. He also took a dig at Modi’s pet project on Sardarbhai Patel’s statue.

“Such people (Modi and BJP leaders) have spent their whole lives in organisations like the RSS, organisations which were banned by Sardar,” said Rahul.

The Congress leader did not mention Modi’s name, but left no room for doubt when he raked up the Gujarat CM’s bid to project himself as the people’s “watchman” in New Delhi. “India doesn’t need a security guard, people of the nation need their rights.”
On the Gujarat model of development, Rahul said that it was only a handful of industrialists who were shining. “Youth are unemployed, children are deprived of nutrition and the BPL limit is Rs 11,” he said.