Sindhanur (Raichur): After his rear-view mirror drive jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday likened the PM to ‘a cricketer who bats looking at the wicketkeeper without knowing from where the ball is coming.’
“If Sachin Tendulkar would have batted looking at the wicketkeeper, could he have scored a single run? Our Prime Minister is such a cricketer who looks at the wicketkeeper and does not know from where the ball is coming from,” he quipped at a public meeting here.
On day two of his campaign in the run-up to the Assembly elections, Mr Gandhi, on seeing the unprecedented crowds at his rallies, chose to hit the PM where it hurts most.
He advised Mr Modi to take a leaf from the life of Basavanna, the 12th Century social reformer, who propounded the concept, Kaayakave Kailasa (Work is Worship). Mr Modi while giving a reply to the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha last week, had advised CM Siddaramaaiah to derive inspiration from Basaveshwara’a Anubhava Mantapa.
The Congress in Karnataka led by Siddaramaiah had walked the talk and followed the principles of Guru Basavanna while Modi had failed on this count, said Mr Gandhi.
“The BJP failed to create jobs, bring back black money and brought down the economy, but all Modi talks about is ‘Congress this, Congress that.’ When I requested for a farm loan waiver, Siddaramaiahji immediately obliged.”
Congress serious about promises: Rahul
The government in Delhi, according to Mr Gandhi, works for 5-10 capitalists. Last year, the Modi government waived loans worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore of the richest people.
The Congress is serious about the promises it makes and would not make promises like depositing Rs 15 lakh in every one’s account, he said. “Like we ran a government of the poor over the past five years we will run a government that will take everybody along. We will do more work. We won’t promise Rs 15 lakh. But what you have heard here, we'll do. Be it farm loan waiver, or Indira canteen,” he said.
