Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s comments that Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is still not “mature” and needs time to handle the complexities of politics are being used by the BJP to make a point in the party’s election rallies in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP President Amit Shah told a rally in Azamgarh that Rahul Gandhi should not be forced upon the people of Uttar Pradesh “if he is not mature”. “Is this a political laboratory or a learning ground for someone?” Shah asked.

Shah added that “men of steel” are needed to solve the problems of Uttar Pradesh. “Problems of Uttar Pradesh can be solved only under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

“Rahul asks what the Modi government has done for the country. Rahul baba, the first thing that we have done is that we have given a PM who speaks. You had given a PM who did not speak for 10 years, and his voice was heard through you and your mother [Congress President Sonia Gandhi],” Shah said. Mocking the Congress-SP alliance, he said: “It is quite amusing that one prince is giving tough times to his mother, the other to his father, and both are troubling UP.”

Talking to reporters here, BJP leader and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan welcomed Dikshit’s statement. “It was delayed, but at least the acknowledgement has come. It was already known to the people of the country. I thank Sheilaji for finally acknowledging the truth,” he said.

Dikshit told a newspaper in an interview that the Congress is going through change. “The political language has changed quite a lot. For instance, you would not expect the PM to say what he said about former PM Manmohan Singh. In this change of approach, link, language and relationships, Congress is adjusting itself. And please remember Rahul is still not mature, his age does not allow him to be mature. He is what… in his forties. Please give him time. Having said all this, Congress believes in development of the weak and marginalised. Rahul is the only one who has spoken about farmers,” she said.