Modi calls Rahul 'childish' after toffee remarks

Taunting Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi on Tuesday compared him with a child, saying ‘toffee’ has caught the Congress vice- president’s fancy after he repeatedly spoke about ‘balloon’.

“Such an important election about the country’s future, but for ten days, a word that gripped him (Rahul) was ‘balloon’. For ten days he kept repeating it. However, children don’t stick to a toy for too long and now he has caught the word ‘toffee’,” Modi said campaigning in Jharkhand in a clear dig at Rahul who on Monday dubbed the Gujarat model of development as a “toffee model”.

“His childishness has not yet gone. First he used to talk about balloons and now he is talking about toffees… Gujarat has got 300 trophies and not toffees.

“Now you tell me what to do. I am not of an age where I can play with balloons,” Modi said.

Modi’s jibe came a day after Rahul dubbed the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate’s repeated reference to the Gujarat model of development as a “toffee model”, alleging that land was given to few industrialists at throwaway prices.

Rahul had earlier come under Modi’s firing line for stating the BJP’s balloon will burst with the Lok Sabha results going against it. Targeting Sonia Gandhi, Modi said, “Mother and son (Rahul) have ruined the country and the Prime Minister has to bear the brunt”.

Modi said he considered serious issues would be discussed in the election which BJP leaders including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi were doing. “But on the other side, there is a player whose mind doesn’t move away from childishness.

He said it was for the people to decide whether or not they wanted those who played with balloons and craved for toffees.

The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said that as a child who sold tea, he did not get toffees, but had his sights set on trophies.