Sounding the poll bugle for Gujarat Assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday excoriated the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family, accusing it of disliking Gujarat and Gujaratis. He also alleged a “conspiracy” was hatched by the Congress to put him in jail, in an apparent reference to accusations of his complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Accusing the main opposition party of pursuing “negative politics”, Modi dared the Congress to fight the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls on the development plank. “Gujarat polls are round the corner and the Congress has developed fever once again. Gujarat has been an eyesore for the party and the family. I won’t repeat what they did to Sardar Patel, his daughter Maniben, and Morarji Desai. They did not speak about the work of Morarji Desai or his dedication and commitment to Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals. They instead chose to talk about what he ate and drank,” Modi told a rally at Bhat village near Gandhinagar, referring to the former prime minister’s fondness of urine therapy.

He also targeted the Congress over the resignation of party leader Madhavsinha Solanki, who as the foreign minister was alleged to have sent a letter to his then Swiss counterpart to scuttle the Bofors scandal probe. “They forced Solanki to resign. the party can go to any extent to save the family,” he said. The rally was held to conclude the BJP’s Gujarat Gaurav Yatra ahead of the high-octane electoral battle for the state where the BJP holds sway.

Earlier speculating announcement of sops for poll-bound state, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in a tweet took a swipe, “Weather report: Ahead of elections, Gujarat will today have jumlon ki baarish.” He also tagged with it a report headlined, “As Gujarat waits for poll date, state gets projects worth nearly Rs 12,500 crore.”