Rahul Gandhi today took an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his expensive monogrammed suit as he said that he does not visit the farmers as he fears that his suit might get dirty.
"He (Modi) does not go to the farmers so that his suit does not get dirty. He is a leader who loves to travel to the US and China," the Congress vice president said addressing a meeting here in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
The suit which Prime Minister Narendra Modi wore during his meeting with US President Barack Obama in Delhi last year was auctioned later and was bought for Rs 4.31 crore to Surat diamond baron and private airline owner Laljibhai Patel.
Earlier, Rahul, who addressed public meetings at various places here, attacked BSP and the ruling SP, saying while the "elephant" (election symbol of BSP) has eaten all the money, the "cycle" (poll symbol of SP) is standing "punctured" in the state.
"Haathi saara paisa kha gaya. Hathi ko apne maar ke bhaga diya (elephant--the election symbol of BSP--ate all the money and then you chased it out)," Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting on the sixth day of his yatra.
"Phir aap cycle (SP's election symbol) laaye. Ye paanch saal se phansi hui hai, hil nahi rahi hai. Uska tyre puncture hai aur apko ration card nahi dila pa rahi hai (Then you voted for SP's cycle which has been stranded for past five years. It's tyre is punctured and is not moving. The party could not provide ration cards to you)," he said attacking SP.
During his yatra, the Congress vice president had 'chai' (tea) and 'samosa' at a local shop and later paid visit to a Dalit family's home where he had lunch.
Appealing to people to vote for Congress in the upcoming elections, Rahul said, "Now you should think about the hand (Congress's election symbol) and then see what we do about ration (cards) and farmers," he said.
The Gandhi scion, who is on his 2500 km 'Deoria to Dilli yatra' to connect with the masses in the run-up to the 2017 state Assembly polls, resumed his yatra from Azamgarh and after holding series of meeting in Mau he will reach Ghazipur.
Azamgarh is parliamentary constituency of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Describing institutions like RBI, EC and judiciary as
"soul" of India, Gandhi alleged that they are being "undermined" by the present government.
"We respected RBI's independence. It is the financial bedrock of India and now it is is being ridiculed. People in RSS and BJP are under the impression that nobody else's opinion matters but theirs," he said.
Turning to the media, Gandhi said it might have shown him in poor light or written against him but he would never scare them or work against their interests.
Taking a dig at Modi on yoga, Gandhi claimed that the Prime Minister cannot even perform "padmasana" (lotus pose), a cross-legged sitting position, and said a yoga teacher told him that those who cannot perform padmasana cannot do yoga.
Taking the jibe further, Rajasthan Congress unit chief Sachin Pilot said the Prime Minister may not be able to perform 'padmasana' but has made the entire country do "shirsasan" (headstand), a pose in which the performer stands on his head.
It was an all-Rahul show where the Congress vice president presided over the convention as party chief Sonia Gandhi has been taking a back seat for quite some time.
Rahul had presided over the party's foundation day function on December 28 last and two months back chaired a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision making body. He had also chaired a meeting of the general body of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the absence of Sonia, who was then said to be unwell, triggering speculation about his elevation. Congress insiders said Rahul's elevation as Congress president was just a matter of time.
Gandhi, in his opening remarks, spoke about the note ban, insisting it was for the first time that India's Prime was being "ridiculed world over" for taking such an "ill- conceived" decision.
"Never before every single economist of any repute said that Prime Minister has taken an ill-conceived decision," Rahul said, adding demonetisation was a "personal" decision of Modi.
Referring to Modi's 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign line that "achhe din" will come when BJP was voted to power, Gandhi said only Congress' return to the helm in 2019 will bring in good days.
Gandhi kept up the suspense on the issue of alliance for Uttar Pradesh assembly election, cryptically remarking it will be an "exciting affair".
"Uttar Pradesh mein maja aayega (it will be an exciting affair)," he said.
Speaker after speaker at the convention, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Kamal Nath, Ahmed Patel, Kapil Sibal, Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia attacked the Prime Minister. Sibal said a probe will be ordered on how much BJP benefitted from the demonetisation.
Gujarat PCC Chief Bharat Singh Solanki said it was important for the Congress to defeat the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls in five states.
Youth leader from Assam Sushmita Dev said demonetisation has created such a strange situation that the currency of Bhutan is being used in parts of North East.
The convention also adopted a resolution condoling the death of 125 people in the wake of demonetisation which resulted in huge queues outside banks and ATMs, and demanded compensation for the families of the deceased.
In another resolution, the party hailed Indira Gandhi in her birth centenary year and accused the NDA government of attempting to "belittle" her life and work.
Congress will hold 'Jan Vedna' conclaves across all states between January 20 and 25 and at district and block levels thereafter.
