Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (April 14) took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and termed him a "royal magician" over his remark to eradicate poverty "with a single stroke" and said the country doesn't take him seriously. The Prime Minister said that what the Congress leader said was “laughable” and reminded that his grandmother had given the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’ decades ago. Addressing a rally at Pipariya town in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad Lok Sabha constituency, Modi also targeted the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc over one of its constituents being in favour of nuclear disarmament and said they cannot protect the country.
He also said the Congress always insulted Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, but the BJP government has honoured him.
"Desperate Congress is making such announcements which the Congress leaders themselves are not understanding. The ‘Shehzada’ (prince) of Congress has just announced something that will make you laugh. He announced that he would eliminate poverty from the country in one stroke. After all, where was this royal magician hiding for so many years? It has been 50 years since his grandmother announced to remove poverty from the country. Before 2014, they ran the government through remote for 10 years and are saying that they have got 'jhatke vala' mantra, where did they get this 'jhatke vala' mantra from?” he said.
“Tell me, is this not a mockery of the poor? Is this not an insult to the poor? They make such claims and because of this they become a laughing stock and the country does not take them seriously,” the Prime Minister added.
What had Rahul Gandhi said?
At a poll rally in Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi had said that if Congress returns to power at the Centre, it would make sure that “poverty is erased in one stroke”.
“If you are below the poverty line, then har saal Rs 1 lakh khatakhat khatakhat aata rahega aur ek jhatke se hum Hindustan se garibi ko mita denge (the amount will keep coming and we will remove poverty from India with one stroke),” he had said.
(With PTI inputs)
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