Congress president Malikarjun Kharge on Sunday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "jhoothon ka sardar" (chieftain of liars), and said the latter tries to gain sympathy by calling himself poor and claiming that people abuse him.
Addressing a public rally at Dediapada in tribal-dominated Narmada district of poll-bound Gujarat, Kharge said he himself comes from the "poorest of the poor and untouchable caste".
"Modiji and (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah ask what Congress did in 70 years? Had we not done anything in 70 years, you would not have got democracy. And people like you who always claim to be poor. I am also poor. I am from the poorest of the poor. I come from the untouchable caste. At least people drink your tea. People do not even drink my tea," he said.
"And then you say, I am poor, someone abused me, said something to me, asked what my status is. If you are trying to gain sympathy by saying such things, then (understand) people are now intelligent. They are not that foolish," he said.
Asserting that people will listen if you lie once or twice, Kharge asked the PM, "How many times have you told a lie?"
He alleged Modi had indulged in telling "lie after lie" and was accusing the Congress of looting the country while himself standing with the rich.
"How many times have you told a lie? Lie after lie. He is a chieftain of liars. And on top of it he says, these Congress people looted the country. You are also looting the land of the poor, not giving land to the Adivasis. Who is destroying land, water and forest? You and the rich people with whom you stand, they are looting us," he alleged.
The Assembly polls in Gujarat will be held in two-phases - on December 1 and 5, while votes will be counted on December 8.