Bikram (Bihar): PM Modi has carefully avoided speaking on the issue of corruption during campaign, but we have not allowed him to escape, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday, claiming it will be “bye-bye” for him on May 23.
Addressing a rally in the Pataliputra LS segment, from where Misa Bharti daughter of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is in the fray, Gandhi attacked Modi for skirting questions on promises he had made like Rs15 lakh in bank accounts of all poor and creation of two crore jobs.
Asserting the ruling BJP was headed for a defeat in the LS polls, the Congress chief claimed Modi would get a befitting reply from people angry over his failure to fulfil promises made five years ago when votes in the current polls are counted on May 23.
In a veiled attack on the interviews given by the PM, including the one to the Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, Gandhi said questions and answers are choreographed to skirt the issue of his promises. All that we hear from Modiji these days are inanities like how he eats a mango and why he wears half-sleeved kurtas.
Repeating the slogan of Chowkidar chor hai which has rankled the BJP, Gandhi said Modi must answer the questions we have been raising with regard to the Rafale deal. Why he got the contract awarded to Anil Ambani, why he agreed to pay much more for the fighter aircraft than had been earlier agreed to and why Rafale would not be manufactured in India.
He owes an answer to the nation on these counts. Modi has travelled the entire country for his campaign, addressing rallies with the help of tele-prompters. He has carefully avoided speaking on the issue of corruption. But we have not allowed him to escape. My challenge to him for an open debate on corruption still stands. He has been badly exposed and, on May 23, it will be a bye-bye for him, Gandhi said.
