Gujarat elections: ‘Hindi Chalega?’, Rahul asks man who interrupted him mid-speech | Watch

During the Surat rally on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP by saying the saffron camp wants the tribal community to “live in the jungle”.

A man interrupted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's speech in Gujarat on Monday that he was delivering in Hindi and asked him to continue speaking in the same instead of pausing for a translator who was standing beside him on the stage. The moment was caught on camera, and the former Congress president's response was welcomed with loud cheers.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (PTI Photo)

“Hindi mein boliye chalega, aap Hindi mein boliye…chalega. Aap ki Hindi samajh lenge. (You can speak in Hindi; it is not going to be an issue. They will understand in Hindi),” the translator was seen in a video telling Gandhi, while gesturing the man in the crowd to settle down.

To this, Gandhi asked, “Hindi Chalega? (Will Hindi work?)”

Soon after, the translator went back to take his seat.

The rally in Surat earlier in the day was Gandhi's first one in poll-bound Gujarat. He later addressed another rally in Rajkot city.

During the Surat rally, Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP by saying the saffron camp wants the tribal community to “live in the jungle”. Calling the tribals the “real owners” of the country, the Congress MP claimed the BJP aims at taking away their rights. He further stated that the BJP does not want the tribals to live in the city or their children to learn English and become engineers.

“They want you to live in the jungle, but do not stop there. After that, they start taking the jungle from you. If it continues like this, then in another 5-10 years, all the jungles will be in the hands of two-three industrialists, and you will have no place to live, and won't get education, health and jobs,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Rajkot, Gandhi lashed out the ruling BJP in Gujarat over last month's Morbi bridge tragedy that claimed the lives of more than 145 people. “This is not a political issue. Question arises that no action was taken against those responsible for this, no FIR was lodged,” he said.

Gandhi's latest salvo at the BJP comes on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a barrage of jibes at the grand old party over its ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Modi said the march is not just a “foot march” but one aimed at power. He, however, did not name Gandhi directly.

The Gujarat polls are scheduled on December 1 and 5, and results for the same will be announced on December 8. The state is currently witnessing a rush of key political figures for campaigning. The BJP is looking to hold onto power in the western state in this year's election as well.

The Congress had registered its best electoral performance in decades when it won 77 seats in the 2017 election. The ruling BJP had won 99, and later increased its tally to 111 when 14 Congress MLAs switched sides to join the saffron party.