Alleging that peddling falsehoods has become the nature of the Congress, BJP president Amit Shah Mondayattacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for "lying" over a Supreme Court order on the Rafale fighter jet purchase deal.

Canvassing for BJP candidates, Shah addressed a rally at Kodinar in Gir Somnath district for the party nominee from Junagadh, and another at Deesa town of Banaskantha district.

"The Supreme Court heard the (Rafale) case on a preliminary technical objection. The Supreme Court passed its judgement, and Rahul baba started saying the Supreme Court hadrebuked the government on the Rafale issue. In reality, no such thing happened," Shah said in Kodinar.

The Congress president had on April 10 claimed that the apex court has made it "clear" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "committed a theft".

The apex court, which had earlier cleared the Modi government of accusations of corruption over the Rafale deal with France, had on April 9 said it will hear a review petition on the basis of the new documents, referred to by petitioners.

"It only worked to remove a preliminary objection. The case is still going on, and has also been heard in the past. But he (Gandhi) started speaking repeatedly. A BJP MP moved a contempt notice.

"And today, the respectable SC has issued notice and asked Rahul Gandhi to explain what he had said," Shah told the crowd.

"Telling a lie, telling it loudly, and repeatedly, has become the nature of the Congress party," he said.

The BJP chief also hit out at Samajwadi Party (SP) leaderAzam Khan for his objectionable remarks against BJP's Rampur Lok Sabha candidate Jaya Prada.

Shah said Khan, the SP, and its Uttar Pradesh ally BSPshould apologise for the "disgusting" remark.

"The disgusting comment made by Samajwadi Party leaderAzam Khan on BJP candidate Jaya Prada is an insult to mothers.

"The comment on Jaya Prada is not on her but on crores of women. I would like to ask Samajwadi Party, Behen Mayawati ji and Rahul Gandhi whether they agree with Azam Khan's comment," Shah said.

He also hit out at the Opposition for their tiradeagainst electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"The Congress is scared of defeat. Earlier they would put the reason of defeat on EVMs. Now, even as the first phaseof election is completed, it says BJP will win due to EVMs. This shows Congress party has accepted defeat," he said.

"You have won (assembly elections) in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The EVM is good where it (Congress) wins, andbad where it loses. Rahul Baba, it does not matter what you say. The people of the country understand everything," he said.

Shah further said the Modi government has worked hard to alleviate poverty and secure the country.

Taking a dig, he said the Congress and Pakistan had "mourned" after the Balakot air strike.

"While youths across the country were bursting crackers, distributing sweets, paying tributes to martyrs, a mourning was held at two places. One in Pakistan, which was crying and beating its chest.

"The second mourning gripped the office of Congress," he said, adding that the main opposition party is still batting for holding talks with Pakistan.

In an apparent reference to a popular Bollywood song, Shah said, "Rahul Baba, go ahead and do 'Ilu Ilu' with terrorists, but this is BJP and Narendra Modi government. Our policy is clear. For every bullet from Pakistan, we will respond with a bomb."

The BJP chief also attacked former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah over his "separate PMs" remark, and asked Gandhi if he agrees with Abdullah.

Speaking at Deesa, Shah took a dig at the "maha- gatbandhan" (grand alliance of anti-BJP parties).

"This is how the coalition government will be run. (BSP supremo) Mayawati will become prime minister on Monday, Akhilesh Yadav (SP chief) on Tuesday, Sharad Pawar (NCP president) on Wednesday, Chandrababu Naidu (TDP president) on Thursday, Deve Gowda (JD-S leader) on Friday, Mamata Banerjee (TMC chief) Saturday, and Sunday will be holiday. Can a country be run like this?" he asked.

Shah said the Congress is still doing a lip service for the cause of the poor even after four generation of the party has ruled the country for 55 years.

Shah held a two-km-long roadshow at Deesa before addressing the rally.

Gujarat will vote in a single phase on April 23 for all its 26 Lok Sabha seats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)