Holding a 15-km roadshow in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter deal and termed demonetisation as the "biggest scam".
Gandhi held the four-hour-long roadshow after performing puja and taking blessings from 11 priests.
Travelling in a bus, the 48-year-old leader criss-crossed several areas of Bhopal, passing through the roads which were decorated and had party banners like the ones describing Gandhi as a Shiv bhakt (a devotee of Lord Shiva).
The roadshow was the virtual launch of the Congress campaign for the assembly polls slated later this year, in which his party has the tough task of dislodging the BJP which has been ruling the state for the last 15 years.
Thousands of Congress workers and local residents flanked the roads and jostled to catch a glimpse of Gandhi, who was accompanied by senior party leaders, including state Congress president Kamal Nath and state partys campaign panel chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia.
En route, he had a brief halt to have tea and samosa at a roadside stall near Sadar Manzil.
He also posed for a selfie with the tea stall owner and his staff, Congress MLA from Indore Jitu Patwari told PTI.
After the roadshow, Gandhi addressed a public meeting, during which he attacked the Modi government over Rafale deal with France, demonetisation, GST and farm loan waiver.
Referring to the Rafale deal, Gandhi told the gathering, "This is your money. Choukidar chori kar gaya (Watchman has indulged in a theft)."
The Congress president claimed that Modi could not look into his (Rahuls) eye when he "questioned" him in the Lok Sabha on the issue.
"In Parliament house, I asked Narendra Modiji why a Rafale aircraft of Rs 700 crore was purchased at Rs 1600 crore," Gandhi said.
"I asked him why you have snatched the contract from HAL and awarded it to Anil Ambai. Anil Ambani is indebted with Rs 45,000 crore. Why did you give the contact to Anil Ambani? I asked, looking into his eyes," Gandhi said.
"Narendra Modiji turned his eyes here and there. Choukidar saw here and there... But he could see look into my eyes," he said.
Ambani has already rejected Gandhis allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale- manufacturer French company Dassault picking up his company as a local partner.
"Modiji came to the power, saying that he longs to become the watchman... Narendra Modiji snatched the contract of Rafale deal from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Since last 70 years, HAL is making fighter planes like MIG, Jaugar, Sukhoi for Air Force, Gandhi claimed.
"But I dont know for what fault, Narendra Modiji snatched the contract from HAL and gave it to his friend Anil Ambani, he alleged in his 35-minute speech.
Gandhi claimed that when Modi went to Paris, his delegation included Anil Ambani", he said, adding, "Anil Ambani and chowkidar have a friendship."
He claimed that "Neither (Defence Minister Manohar) Parikar, nor Cabinet Committee on Security was asked. The contract was straightaway given to Anil Ambani."
Earlier, Anil Ambani had written to Gandhi on December 12, 2017, refuting allegations of his Reliance Group lacking experience to get the Rafale fighter jet deal.
He had written that Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.
Referring to demonetisation, Gandhi said on Monday that it was "the biggest scam that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken in four years which the Congress had not done in the last 70 years."
Modi had on November 8, 2016 announced demonetisation, under which the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes existing then were scrapped with immediate effect.
"The scam was aimed at taking out money from the small traders to put into the pockets of 15 richest persons of the country," Gandhi alleged.
He asked the gathering, "Have you seen people like Vijay Mallya or Anil Ambani standing in queues after demonetization?"
Only the honest people of the country stood in the queues, he said.
He claimed that the BJP-led government has waived loans worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore which was the NPA of 15 big industries.
He questioned why the loans of farmers, who "have borrowed just Rs 5000", could not be waived.
"Those who took loans in lakhs and crores were called as Non-Performing Assets (NPA), but when a farmer fails to pay Rs 5000 loan, you term him as defaulter," Gandhi said.
"When Congress comes to power in the country, it will waive the entire loan of farmers. The Congress had already done so by waiving Rs 70,000 crore loan earlier of the peasants," he said.
"Some days ago, (fugitive businessman) Vijay Mallya said in London that before fleeing India, he had a meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and told him that he was going to London," Gandhi said.
Mallya ran away with Rs 9,000 crore, he said, adding the Finance Minister did not tell CBI and ED.
Describing GST (Goods and Services Tax) as Gabbar Singh Tax, Gandhi alleged that it too was an attempt to take out money from the small traders for putting into the pocket of 15 richest persons of India.
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