'Lord' Modi just like the British, says Rahul Gandhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lording it over India just like the British, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said in a blistering pre-election broadside published Tuesday.

"Every institution in India is facing Mr Modi's autocratic backlash," Rahul said in a newspaper interview.

"Mr Modi believes that he is the Lord of India, just like the British believed," the 48-year-old told the Hindustan Times daily.

Rahul said in the interview that this was "just the tip of the backlash" against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"What Mr Modi doesn't accept is that India today is in a crisis. India has a massive job crisis, a humongous agriculture crisis, and Indian youngsters are deeply distressed about their future," he said.

"This is generating a huge amount of anger."

Rahul's comments about Modi's "autocratic backlash" referred to the massive row raging since Sunday between the central government and the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which has made waves nationally.