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Launching a frontal attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the state of the economy, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said though Singh is a "doctor of finance, the rupee is in hospital”.
Addressing a rally in Ambikapur, Modi indirectly hit out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi saying his comment that poverty is a state of mind was "like pouring acid on the misery of the people" and also criticised the government for its handling of Telangana issue.
"There is a Singh in Delhi and there is a Singh in Chhattisgarh. In Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is completing ten years and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh. Both are doctors. Raman Singh is a physician while Manmohan Singh has a doctorate in finance," Modi said.
"During the ten years of his rule, Dr Raman Singh had infused a new life in the people of Chhattisgarh. But the doctor in Delhi, who is doctor of finance, the Rupee is in hospital hanging between life and death," he said.
Referring to the government's handling of Telangana issue, he said that during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA rule Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were created by dividing Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and sweets were distributed by the people of all these states.
"The way Telangana was formed, Congress has set the entire Andhra Pradesh on fire," Modi alleged.
"It is an example of the functioning of Congress that when Telangana was formed, curfew had to be imposed", he added.
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Modi referred to his statement that poverty is just a state of mind and said this was "like pouring acid on the misery of the poor".
Image: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi