Rahul took cycle ride after khaat sabha flop, says Rajnath Singh

Jalaun (UP): Union home minister Rajnath Singh Saturday took a dig at Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress vice-president had to ride the “bicycle” when his much-hyped “khaat sabha” failed to draw crowd.

“When Congress realised that it would not be able to muster enough votes in the ongoing Assembly elections through khaat sabha, it decided to ride the bicycle,” Mr Singh said at an election rally in Madhogarh Assembly constituency in the district.

The bicycle is the poll symbol of Samajwadi Party. The Congress and the SP recently entered into an alliance in UP.

Ridiculing Mr Gandhi’s “khaat sabha” campaign, Mr Singh said, “Assemblies are generally held in halls or fields. But it is for the first time that I have seen khaat sabha (meeting on cots).”

“When Congress realised that the party would not be able muster votes through khaat sabha, it immediately took a bicycle ride to salvage itself. However, the bicycle he is riding, is punctured,” the home minister said.

Showering praise on the voters of UP, the former chief minister said the historic and overwhelming majority which the voters gave to BJP and its allies helped the NDA form government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP and its allies bagged 73 out of 80 seats in the politically crucial state.

“This was certainly a significant moment in India’s politics as it was for the time that a non-Congress political party was given a clear mandate,” said Mr Singh, who is also a member of Parliament from Lucknow.