In Akhilesh den, Rahul Gandhi slams PM

With his eyes set on the future in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been guarded in targeting state chief minister Akhilesh Yadav during his tour of the home turf of the ruling Samajwadi Party’s first family, but sparing no attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr Gandhi, who is on a month-long Kisan Yatra in Uttar Pradesh, has been interacting with the locals for the last two days in the districts of Shikohabad and Firozabad, areas that are considered bastion of the Yadav family.

Mounting an all-out attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, Mr Gandhi criticised Mr Modi for his poll promises like returning black money from abroad and depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of every individual. He also mocked at the Modi government, saying it was busy waiving loans of rich industrialists while the previous Congress-led UPA government had relieved farmers of debt burden.

When a member of the crowd that had gathered to hear Mr Gandhi in Mainpuri, the pocketborough of the Yadav family, urged him to comment on the Samajwadi Party government and its CM, the Congress vice-president avoided a sharp attack on Mr Yadav. Mr Gandhi said that he was happy when a young person was appointed at the helm of the state in 2012, but sarcastically added that Mr Yadav kept on “peddaling the cycle (SP’s election symbol) on its stand only.”

The tone of Mr Gandhi’s criticism re-emphasised the fact that the Congress is primarily aiming at stopping the BJP from coming to power in the state while keeping its options open for any electoral equation with the SP.