'Chhota Popat': BJP vs Rahul Gandhi over election slogan

BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said Rahul Gandhi has ruined the Congress party.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday reacted to Rahul Gandhi's swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘ek hain toh safe hain' slogan, calling him "chhota popat". The party claimed Bal Thackeray, the late Shiv Sena founder, coined the term for the Congress leader.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a press conference ahead of the second phase of the Jharkhand assembly election.(PTI)

BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said Rahul Gandhi has ruined the Congress party.

"Today I say this from this platform and in Rahul Gandhi’s language 'Chhota popat ne kiya hei Congress ko chaupat' (he has ruined the Congress). His name is Rahul Gandhi," the BJP leader said.

"I saw an interview of Bal Thackeray where he referred to Rahul Gandhi as chota popat. From today onwards, Rahul Gandhi’s name is going to be ‘chota popat’. This name will now be there on every child’s lips in Maharashtra,” he added.

What Rahul Gandhi said

Rahul Gandhi today mocked the BJP slogan, saying that the party was referring to the unity between PM Modi, union home minister Amit Shah and billionaires like Mukesh Ambani.

"I will explain the real meaning of BJP's slogan – 'ek hai to safe hai'. It is if Modi, Shah and Ambani are 'ek' (united), then they are 'safe'," Gandhi claimed at a press conference in Ranchi.

On the Manipur violence, Gandhi said PM Modi hasn't visited the state even once.

"Manipur has been burning for the last one-and-a-half years but PM Modi did not visit the state even once. I went there, saw the situation and urged the government to control the violence. The (Union) Home Minister should have done his work but he is not taking interest... some vested interest is at play," he alleged.

BJP attacks Kharge

The BJP leader also criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's "killing the poisonous snake" analogy in his speech.

"If there is anything which is politically the most dangerous in India is the BJP and RSS. They are like poison. If a snake bites, the person (who is bitten) dies... such a poisonous snake should be killed," Kharge had said during an election rally.

Patra said the Congress chief displayed the Emergency mentality.

“It is the mindset of Emergency because of which you liken your rivals with snakes and incite violence by calling for killing them,” he said.

Voting for the second phase of the Jharkhand election and the Maharashtra election will take place on November 20. The results will be announced on November 23.

With inputs from PTI