Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his China visit, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said today he would remain silent on the Doklam issue during his talks with President Xi Jinping, and wondered where his '56 inch chest' has gone.
He also slammed Modi over his "silence" on alleged corruption by BJP leaders, including its chief Amit Shah's son.
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"I have heard that he (Modi) is visiting China. You just see, take it in writing from me. China's army is sitting in Doklam and he will not utter a word on Doklam in China, you just watch.
"He (Modi) won't utter a word, this is 56 inch chest. Only hollow words, false promises," Gandhi, who is on a two-day election campaign tour of Karnataka, told a public rally here.
The Congress president spoke of how Modi had hosted Xi in his home state Gujarat and the Chinese troops made an incursion into Indian territory.
"In Gujarat, on the banks of a river, Narendra Modi ji"sits on a swing with the Chinese president. Chinese president goes"back home and puts Chinese army in Doklam. I don't know where his (Modi's) 56-inch chest had gone, Narendra Modi ji did not utter a word," he"said.
Chinese soldiers had intruded into Indian territory in Chumar area of Ladakh in September 2014 during Xi's India visit.
The Congress chief, who released the party's election" manifesto for the Assembly polls in Mangaluru earlier in the day, said, "Modi ji, wherever he goes, speaks his 'mann ki baat, but our manifesto is"not our mann ki baat...it is the mann ki baat of Karnataka's"youth, women and poor".
He said the manifesto was not prepared by two or three Congress leaders in a closed room, and that people of every district and region were consulted.
Verappa Moily, the manifesto committee chief, met" people across classes, farmers, youth and industry, he said, and claimed that 90 per cent of promises made in the manifesto ahead of the 2013 polls had been fulfilled.
Invoking 12th century social reformer Basavanna who" taught people 'Nudidante nade' (practise what you preach), Gandhi said, "If there is no weight in what you speak, then there is no meaning."
Gandhi said while the Congress' Siddaramaiah government fulfilled what it promised, the Modi dispensation did not honour commitments made by it.
"Modi ji folds his hands in front of Basavanna's statue, garlands it, and then he gives eight tickets to Reddy brothers. He says he stands against corruption....but then he stands with Yeddyurappa (the BJP's chief ministerial nominee), who has spent time in jail, on one side, and four"MLAs who have savoured jail food on the other," he added.
Targeting the prime minister over his "silence" on Amit Shah's son Jay Shah, whom he accused of "converting" Rs 50,000 into Rs 80 crore in three months, Gandhi said, Modi claims to be the "chowkidar" (watchman) of the country, "but does not stop his friend from indulging in theft".
Taking a jibe at the prime minister over BJP allotting party tickets to the Reddy brothers and their supporters, he said, "Modi ji likes changing names. Earlier it was"Planning Commission. He changed it to NITI Ayog. Now he has"changed the CBI's name to Central Bureau of Illegal mining.
The influential Reddy brothers of Ballari were accused of involvement in illegal iron ore mining in several states, and two of them have been fielded by the BJP in the polls.
"It (CBI) is an agency that gives clean chit to"Reddy brothers, it does whatever Modiji asks it to do. If you want theft to happen from Karnataka, Modi ji will get it done. Amit Shah and Modi ji will give them (Reddy"brothers and their men) eight tickets and then they will give"speeches that they are against corruption," he said.
He alleged the Reddy brothers had looted Rs 33,000" crore from Karnataka by way of the mining scam.
The Congress president also accused the prime minister of keeping quiet over atrocities against women.
"Narendra Modi gave the slogan 'Beti Bachao, Beti" Padhao'. Now the slogan has changed, wherever you see parents" in India are trying to save their daughters from BJP leaders,""he said.
Referring to the alleged involvement of an Uttar" Pradesh BJP MLA in a rape case, he said, "The new slogan is" only 'Beti Bachao, Beti Bachao' (save your daughters) from BJP leaders. Narendra Modi, the country's chowkidar, did not utter a word on their MLA indulging in rape."
Gandhi said when a rape incident happened in Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister only said there should be no atrocities against women.
"Modi ji, we know, but you do something about this, the whole country is burning, there are atrocities against Dalits,"minorities are being attacked, women are being attacked, and you are just watching," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)