Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi took on Congress president Sonia Gandhi after she criticised his government's development record, saying she "had not done her homework properly".

Speaking at a rally in the poor Asarva neighbourhood of Ahmedabad, Modi said "Madam Soniaben" had "failed the test" and been unable to reduce prices despite promising to do so within 100 days of her party coming to power at the Centre.

Modi, clad in his trademark white with a saffron vest, arrived an hour late for the rally to huge cheers from a crowd of about 15,000 that thronged an enclosure and packed balconies and terraces nearby. Straightaway, he launched into a 45-minute speech marked by soaring rhetoric, self-praise and barbs directed mainly at Sonia.

Taking a dig at her criticism of Gujarat's roads, he wondered how she would know since she flew in by helicopter.

He also slammed the Congress-led UPA for India’s suspension from the International Olympic Committee. “India has the largest force of youngsters in the world but this UPA government is not doing anything to encourage them to take up sports,” he said.