Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday confronted Narendra Modi’s propensity to seek sympathy votes by playing the victim card, arguing that he was the first Prime Minister who acted like a crybaby instead of boldly solving people’s problems.

Responding to Modi’s lament on Saturday that the Congress had so far hurled “91 abuses” at him, Priyanka said at a rally: “I have seen many Prime Ministers. I saw Indira Gandhi, who took bullets for the nation. I saw Rajiv Gandhi, who sacrificed his life for the nation. I saw Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh working day and night for the nation. But this is the first Prime Minister I have seen who cries in front of you that ‘I am being abused’. Instead of paying heed to your problems, he is pouring out his own woes before you. And someone in his office has prepared a list. No not of your problems. Not of your miseries. The list contains the number of times Modi has been abused and how.”

She added: “At least the abuses could be accommodated in one page. The abuses my family has received from these people will need several books to be published. Himmat karo Modiji (muster courage), learn from my brother. My brother says I am willing to take bullets, not only abuses, for the country. My brother says I will stand for the truth even if you abuse me, harass me, stab me or shoot me. Don’t be scared Modiji. In public life, you have to suffer a lot and still keep working for the people.”

Responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s observation that Modi was like a poisonous snake, the Prime Minister had said: “The Congress has hurled 91 abuses at me so far."

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya has released a compilation of abuses over the past two decades.

Modi, who said the Congress’s top agenda was “Modi teri kabar khudegi” (Modi, your grave will be dug up), has been repeating this slogan at all his public meetings, accusing the party of wanting to kill him.

The Congress had in the past recalled how Modi himself led a belligerent Sangh parivar to abuse, insult and ridicule political opponents in a manner no Prime Minister had done. Modi has referred to Sonia as “Congress ki vidhwa” and Shashi Tharoor’s wife as “50 crore ki girlfriend”. He has never lost an opportunity to ridicule Rahul who has never tried to create public sympathy by playing this up.

The Prime Minister on Sunday repeated how he was compared with a poisonous snake, saying the people of Karnataka would hit back at the Congress with their votes on May 10.

He said: “Only those leaders who pay obeisance to the family sitting in Delhi survive in the Congress. For every decision, the local leaders have to wait for the green signal of that family. The headline about the Congress is about which member of that family wields more power now, not about what agenda they have for the people. But for the BJP, you are the family. Your concern is the BJP’s concern.”

While describing eventhe JDS as a family fiefdom, Modi said voting for the Congress would mean halting Karnataka’s development and putting the state in the reverse gear.

The Congress, on the other hand, has avoided political rhetoric in the campaign and kept its focus on its guarantees and the BJP’s corruption.

The party’s energy is concentrated on spreading the message about the five guarantees — Rs 2,000 to every woman per month; Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to diploma holders; 200 units of free electricity to households; 10kg of free rice every month and free bus travel for women.

The Prime Minister dismissed all these guarantees as a “bunch of lies”, alleging that the Congress never fulfilled its promises and its governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were known for internal squabbles, not for their performance.