Modi thought he was off Rafale Radar: Priyanka

A day after the big rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city, Indore rolled out a red carpet for Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. In a roadshow, she launched a scathing attack on Modi, saying he was no saint but he kept reciting names of industrialists.

With just four days left for the end of campaigning for the last phase of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress pushed its trump card Priyanka into campaign in Malwa-Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh.

She began her tour by visiting the Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar temple. She addressed a rally in Ratlam and held a road show in Indore, the seat of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Earlier in Ratlam, Modi finished a rousing speech targeting the Congress with ‘Hua To Hua’ barb, to which the BJP has latched on ever since Congress leader Sam Pitroda had used the words as part of a response to a question about the BJP raking up the 1984 riots.

This is first time that Priyanka is campaigning in an election in Madhya Pradesh. The curiosity was palpable among the crowd who scrambled to take selfies with her. While Indore is a strong BJP bastion, Priyanka Gandhi has managed to electrify Congress workers, who are hopeful of a change this time, as eight-time MP Sumitra Mahajan is not contesting.

In Ratlam, Modi attacked the late Rajiv Gandhi, saying “The Namdar family of Congress uses the navy war craft for picnic and when questions are raised, they brazenly say-Hua To Hua (What if it happened)”. He took on Congress leader Digvijaya Singh saying that the latter committed a “big sin” by not voting. He said, “Diggy Raja why did you get so scared? You don’t fear even Zakir Naik.”

‘What kind of nationalism?’

“What kind of nationalism is this which cannot provide security to women, which cannot hear the grief of farmers. What kind of nationalist is he who keeps silent when Dalits are bashed up?” said Priyanka, trying to counter Modi's narrative on Monday.

She took a dig at Modi for attacking her family members comparing his barbs with pranks of a school kid. “He keeps saying forty years ago Nehruji said this, Indiraji said that. Come to this century now and tell what you did in five years... He kept giving fake slogans in his five years of his government. He might have thought it won’t be caught by the radar as the weather is cloudy,” Priyanka quipped, referring to Modi’s remarks where he suggested clouds and rain could hide jets from radars.

Reviving the Rafale attack she said the prime minister on his own decided who will get the contract. “Perhaps he thought the weather was cloudy. It will not come on the radar. But you have come on the radar. Be it rain or the sun, everybody has understood what has happened.”

In Ratlam she broke off security cordon to meet the women who had gathered there. Earlier, she asked the tribals in the area not to fall into the traps laid by Modi.