'PM will dance if…': Rahul Gandhi targets Modi at Bihar rally; BJP hits back

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he would do “anything for votes, even dance”, and accused the BJP of running the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar “by remote control”.

Kicking off his poll campaign with back-to-back joint rallies alongside the INDIA bloc's CM face Tejashwi Yadav in Muzafarpur and Darbhanga, Gandhi said, "You must have seen the drama on TV that Modi was going to take a dip in the Yamuna for Chhath Puja. It was shelved when it was exposed that a puddle had been formed with clean, piped water since the river is so filthy."

"Narendra Modi is ready to enact all types of drama. You try telling him at a poll rally that, Mr Prime Minister, we will vote for you if you dance. He will readily perform Bharat Natyam," he claimed.

Taking strong exception, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP's in-charge for the polls in Bihar, said Gandhi's remarks are against basic norms of civility in public discourse.

"He has insulted the PM, and in effect, heaped scorn on Chhath Puja," Pradhan told PTI-Video.

Gandhi asserted that under the leadership of former Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Yadav, a new government would be formed in Bihar, and it would ensure that the interests of all sections of society, cutting across caste and religious lines, are taken care of.

"I will ask the people of the state, especially the extremely backward classes, to give up the illusion that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar runs the government. It is a government run through remote control, by the BJP, which does not care for Bihar," he said.

"The clothes that you wear mostly carry the label made in China. I want to see the day when these shall be replaced by made in Bihar. But this cannot happen under a dispensation that works for big business houses. It requires a boost to small and medium-scale industries, which the BJP destroyed through measures like demonetisation and flawed GST," he alleged.

Reacting to the statement, Pradhan said Gandhi does not have the stature to comment on Kumar, who is a revered leader of Bihar and has been in public life for a long time.

"Such remarks betray the feudal mindset of Gandhi and his disciple (shagird) Tejashwi," he claimed.

Gandhi claimed that it was at the Congress's insistence that the Modi government agreed to a caste census.

"Two Indias are emerging. One belongs to the common people, and the other to five or 10 billionaires. This is the reason that places like Bihar suffer in poverty, with its vast potential remaining untapped," he alleged.

Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, also pilloried the PM for stating that cheap internet had made social media accessible to even the poor.

"Why does Modi not also reveal that he has allowed the monopoly of one business house in the telecom sector. Moreover, he wants people to get addicted to reels and Instagram because he cannot give them jobs," he claimed.

He dared PM Modi to refute US President Trump, who has been repeatedly saying that Operation Sindoor was stopped under American pressure.

"Trump must have said at least 50 times that after Operation Sindoor, he reprimanded Modi, who acquiesced by halting the military operation. He has done so again today," said Gandhi, in an obvious reference to the US President's remarks in South Korea.

"I challenge Modi to refute Trump, to say that the US President is lying, to say that he is talking rubbish. But Modi is too scared to do so," he alleged.

Recalling the tenure of his late grandmother, Gandhi said, "If you want to understand what a Prime Minister should be like, you should look at what Indira Gandhi did in 1971 when she had told the then US President -- we are not afraid of you."

The allusion was to the war with Pakistan that resulted in the victory of the Indian forces and the creation of Bangladesh.

Gandhi also alleged that Modi was "not actually a PM elected by people like you but an instrument (auzar)" of big business houses.

"You must be able to recall the lavish wedding at Ambanis' place. You saw Narendra Modi going there. But you did not see Rahul Gandhi. Understand the difference," he said.

Gandhi claimed that Shah had said land was not available in Bihar for industries, but farmlands were being given to select business houses.

The Congress leader, who had carried out a 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in the state a couple of months ago, also alleged that "they stole the polls in Maharashtra and Haryana. They will try to do the same in Bihar".

"Theft of votes is an assault on the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar. We are committed to protecting the Constitution," he said.

Gandhi also spoke of the glorious ancient past of Bihar, mentioning the Nalanda University, and said, "Your potential is still evident. People from the state are doing well in Dubai, Mauritius, Seychelles and America."

"Your potential needs to be tapped. The modern Nalanda University was a brainchild of the previous Congress-led government at the Centre. I foresee a future when Americans would come to Bihar for higher learning," he said.

"You are also able to understand political intricacies in a matter of seconds. I would urge you not to be swayed by the drama of Narendra Modi," he added.