Rahul Gandhi is a "part-time leader": Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Sunday said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is a "part-time leader" who doesn't understand issues concerning Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which is going to polls next week.

Addressing a rally in Barghat (ST) constituency in Seoni district for the November 28 elections, Fadnavis also attacked the Congress for making "lofty promises" in its poll manifesto. Chhattisgarh, also ruled by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), had voted in two phases on November 12 and 20.

"Rahul Gandhi is a part-time leader who spends most of his time outside the country. He addresses a couple of meetings when he returns to the country. He doesn't know issues of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. He talks about the issues of Madhya Pradesh in Chhattisgarh and vice versa," he said.

Hailing Dalit icon B R Ambedkar for enshrining the right of voting in the Constitution, Fadnavis said power to rule was confined to dynasties in earlier days. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are the people's leaders who got the popular mandate," he said.

Terming the Congress' poll manifesto as a "bundle of lies", Fadnavis said, "At times, somebody thinks that they are not going to come to power. So, they make lofty announcements. Reality is that Shivraj ji would fulfil these promises". "If you demand, the Congress can even make an announcement of constructing a Taj Mahal in front of your house," he said in a lighter vein.

Referring to Maharashtra, Fadnavis said the Congress can never fulfil its electoral promises "even though it is given the entire budget of Madhya Pradesh for the last 15 years".

He said, "The Congress had given the slogan of 'Gareebi Hatao' (remove poverty) but instead the poor were eliminated".

(With inputs from agencies.)