Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the “extremely corrupt” AAP was born of the “womb of the Mother of Corruption, the Congress”, appearing to imply that a thief’s child is born a thief.

Addressing his last rally of this general election in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, before campaigning closed for the last round of voting on June 1, Modi said he had a “mazedar katha (funny story)” to narrate.

“As children, we were told a story.... It went like this: a pregnant woman goes to hospital and gives birth to a boy,” Modi said. “The nurse delivering the child found her ring was missing and began crying, ‘Where’s my ring gone, where’s it gone’,” he went on.

“The newborn boy was not opening his fist, and this worried the doctors. They somehow managed to open his fist and found the nurse’s ring there.”

Modi added: “People wondered why the boy had begun stealing right from birth. Then it was revealed that his father was a big thief, a big bandit.”

He then drew a political parallel. “Toh janm-jaat ek bhrashtachar ki janani Congress ki kokh se ye kattar bhrashtachari paida hue hain. Aur isliye, Congress ko toh bhrashtachar me PhD karte karte saath saal lage, ye toh janm se hi kattar bhrashtachari paida hue hain,” Modi asserted.

A translation: “So, these thoroughly corrupt people were born out of the womb of the Congress, the Mother of Corruption. Therefore, while the Congress took 60 years to get its PhD in corruption, they (the AAP) were extremely corrupt right from birth.”

The Prime Minister accused the AAP and the Congress of enacting a “drama” by fighting each other in Punjab while contesting together in Delhi. The AAP is the ruling party in Punjab and Delhi.

Modi accused the AAP of being the “biggest liars” and said the party had formed its first government in Delhi with the support of the Congress and learntcorruption from its partner.

“The whole world has now come to know about the Delhi liquor scam. Here (in Punjab), the illegal mining mafia is rampant,” he said.

“The extremely corrupt and biggest liars have pushed Punjab into a gang war. They have destroyed industry and farming in Punjab.”

Modi courted the Dalit Sikh community, invoking Sant Ravidas, revered by the lower castes.

“See the coincidence: Guru Ravidas was born in Varanasi, from where I am MP. Therefore, it’s a matter of pride for me to close the poll campaign from this holy land of Hoshiarpur,” he said, calling Hoshiarpur the “tapobhoomi” of Ravidas.

Modi expressed confidence about returning to power, saying a full majority government would score a hat-trick. He said he was ready with a 125-day programme for the new government, which would include a few “bade faisle (big decisions)” and focuson the youth.