Gujarat verdict will be zabardast

Ahmedabad: Addressing his first press conference as Congress president-elect, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s seaplane ride across the Sabarmati river as a “political distraction”.

“The PM is trying to skirt important issues of development,” the Congress scion said on the last day of campaigning for Gujarat elections. He said Modi had refrained from speaking on corruption during the campaign in his home state.

"It is for the first time in an election that Modiji has not spoken about corruption...about farmers. There is zabardast tremendous undercurrent (against the BJP). Be it Patidars, OBCs, Dalits, farmers....all are angry. Public mood has undergone 'zabardast' change. "The Congress will win the election....the results will be 'zabardast'," a confident-looking Gandhi said.

The Congress leader also took on those who raised eyebrows over his visits to temples in Gujarat, wondering if it was wrong to pray for the well-being of people of the state.

"Mandir jana mana hai kya (Am I not allowed to visit temple)? I have asked for the well-being of the people of Gujarat during my temple visits," Gandhi said, when asked the reason behind his frequent temple visits in the poll-bound state.

Gandhi added that Modi's comments against his predecessor Manmohan Singh over a dinner meeting with Pakistani diplomats were unacceptable.

"What Modiji has said about former PM Manmohan Singh is not acceptable," Gandhi said. The Congress earlier in the day also mocked the seaplane ride by the PM calling it a ‘Hawa Hawai’. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted that “they did not understand development. It is called Hawa Hawai.”