Ahmedabad: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi completed his three-day tour of north Gujarat on Monday. During his campaign trail for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017, Rahul Gandhi visited number of temples and offered prayers, giving an impression of Congress' shift towards soft Hindutva approach.
Battling allegations of playing the soft Hindutva card by visiting temples during his election campaign in Gujarat, the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said he is a 'bhakt' of Lord Shiva.
The Congress vice president on Monday visited Vir Meghmaya temple and Bahucharaji Mataji Temple in Patan and Mehsana respectively.
The Gandhi scion visited two temples in the state - Ambaji temple and Akshardham temple on Saturday.
Gandhi had started his campaign in Gujarat with a visit to the renowned Dwarkadheesh temple in September.
Addressing the electorate in Gujarat's Patan area, he alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made money "disappear" from Gujarat through "magic" in the last two decades of the BJP rule, as he stepped up his attack on the Prime Minister in the poll-bound state.
During the last leg of the fourth and last of his three-day visit to the poll-bound state, the Gandhi scion held a massive unplanned road show in the Patidar-dominated and BJP bastion of Mehsana.
Rahul Gandhi targetted PM Modi, asking why is the 'chowkidar' or gatekeeper of the country silent on "immense and unbelievable profit" in Jay Shah's company.
Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister, Gandhi asked, "Why is the 'chowkidar' (gatekeeper) of the country, who said 'I won't indulge in corruption and won't allow anybody else to indulge in it', silent on the unbelievable growth of Jay Shah's company profit. Any good Gujarati businessman knows that nobody can turnaround a Rs 50,000 company into an Rs 80 crore profit-making company within a couple of months. Why is the 'chowkidar' silent on the SEBI notice issued to the Gujarat Chief Minister? The country wants to know Pradhan Mantriji, are you the chowkidar or bhagidar? (The country want to know Mr Prime Minister, are you the gatekeeper or a participant in the corruption)."
In Becharaji, Rahul Gandhi told a large gathering that just as demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were launched by the NDA government at midnight, Gabbar Singh, the notorious villain of popular film "Sholay", too attacked people at midnight.
Gandhi also targeted the Modi government over demonetisation, the GST, unemployment and various issues related to farmers.
He visited Rani Ki Vav, a UNESCO world heritage site in Patan, and a cotton growing farm to inquire how cotton is grown.
During his interaction with a group of Dalits in Patan, Gandhi assured them of implementing all the promises made in the Congress's manifesto.
He also termed the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor, as a "manuvadi institute".
