Rahul Gandhi calls party rebels in Uttarakhand ‘trash’, takes on PM

DEHRADUN: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi helmed a 90km-long roadshow in Haridwar on Sunday, covering almost all the 11 constituencies in the district, which has the highest number of seats in the state.

Launching a scathing attack on rebels, calling them kachra (garbage) who the party expelled for corruption, Gandhi said, “PM Narendra Modi talks of eradicating corruption, so why did he induct these people?” Referring to Modi’s “raincoat” jibe at Manmohan Singh, Rahul advised the PM to “take lessons on manners from the people of Uttarakhand, who are known for being soft spoken and well-mannered”.

Accusing Modi of double standards on corruption, Gandhi questioned why the PM did not act against the “94% of black money” in Swiss banks or invested in property and gold. “Instead, he took route of demonetisation to harass common man.” In his speeches, Gandhi used the word “mitron”. “Mitron, mera naam Modi hai aur mujhe aapke jeb mein paise pasand nahi (friends, my name is Modi... I don’t like you having money in your pockets).”