Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of following divisive politics and making false promises, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the people "tried" the BJP leader but his government "got punctured" and it was time to trust the Congress to take India forward. The Congress president invoked Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of adherence to truth and communal harmony to hit out at the Modi government and alleged the prime minister was fighting against the same ideals for which the Father of the Nation sacrificed all his life and took three bullets.

Addressing a rally here to kick off the Congress's programmes in the 150th birth anniversary year of the father of the nation, Rahul Gandhi also targeted the Modi government over the Rafale fighter jet deal and on issues related to defaulter businessmen Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. "The thieves of India, with the help of Narendra Modi, turned lakhs, crores of black money into white. Modiji took money out of your pockets and put it in the pockets of (fugitive businessmen) Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya," he said.