Karnataka election 2018: My mother is more Indian than many Indians, says Rahul Gandhi

Bengaluru : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said his mother and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi is more Indian than many Indians.

Replying to a question on personal attacks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on him and the foreign origins of his mother, Gandhi said it shows the quality of the Prime Minister". 

"Modi has anger inside him. He has got anger for everybody. Not only for me. I am a lightning rod of that anger. I attract that anger because he sees a threat from me. But his anger is his problem," Gandhi said while addressing mediapersons here.

The Congress leader said Modi makes personal attacks to distract from issues. "It's not my problem. My problem is how to help the people of this country. I am not going to be distracted by him. I have now learnt to deal with him," he added.

Gandhi also said: "My mother has also lived larger part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many Indians I see."

"My mother has sacrificed for this country, she has suffered for this country and it shows the quality of the Prime Minister when he makes these types of comments. It shows the quality of the man and I am happy to let him do so. If he enjoys, if he likes it... have a nice day," he said.

"Modi only wants to distract the people of Karnataka. He talks about personal attacks. He talks about all sorts of different things, except what they are going to do for the people," Gandhi said.

"When he realises he is coming into a space from where there is no escape, he distracts and creates anger. We are not going to let him distract or create anger. We are going to defeat the BJP. This is disrespectful to have the type of discussions that our Prime Minister have when it comes to this election," he added.

Replying to a question that Modi had said Congress was only raising Dalit issues, Gandhi said: "That is our job. We will defend the rights of Dalits, we will raise their issue." 

Gandhi also slammed Modi for the Rafale deal and said "it was a great deal for the Prime Minister and his businessman friend".

"Modi said Rafale was a very good deal. I agree with him. It was a very good deal for the Prime Minister and his businessman friend, who is in Rs 45,000 crore debt, who has never built an aeroplane in his life," said Gandhi.

"They have taken away jobs from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the youngsters of Karnataka. Thousands and thousands of technical jobs of the highest value addition could have come to Karnataka. But Modi chose to give that deal to his friend," he added.

Gandhi further said: "He didn't follow the procedure, he didn't ask the Cabinet Committee on Security. He paid Rs 1,500 crore for the plane that the UPA worked out at Rs 700 crore....Absolutely smashing deal for Modi."

 

"You can see the effects of it and the amount of money they are throwing around in the state," the Congress President added.