PM Modi mocks Rahul Gandhi for choosing Raebareli saying ‘Daro Mat"

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Rahul Gandhi not to run away from Amethi as the Congress leader has chosen to contest from Raebareli over Amethi.

Rahul Gandhi, who lost Amethi in 2019, switched to Raebareli seat vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi, NDTV reported.

PM Modi during his speech at a campaign rally in Bengal mocked Rahul Gandhi saying that the Congress leader had "run away" from Amethi for fear of defeat.

"Today I also want to tell him, whole-heartedly, Daro Mat (don't be afraid), Bhaago Mat (don't run)," the Prime Minister reported said.

The Prime Minster was paying back in the same coin when he said ‘Daro Mat’ to the Congress leader who used to criticse the BJP government’s polices using the same expression.

Further attacking the Congress leader, PM Modi claimed he had predicted that both mother and son would avoid contesting out of fear.

"I had said, their biggest leader will not dare to contest. She will run away out of fear. She ran to Rajasthan and from there entered Rajya Sabha. That is exactly what happened," he was quoted as saying.

BJP leaders portray Rahul Gandhi’s shift from Amethi as an admission that he will not win the seat even five years after Smriti Irani wrested it from him.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur who is the BJP's candidate for Hamirpur, said: "A while ago, Rahul Gandhi used to say 'daro mat, daro mat, daro mat'. Now his fear has taken him from Amethi to Wayanad and from Wayanad to Raebareli - the decision shows where all his fear of defeat is driving him. And the fear is also about whether he could lose both.’

Another BJP leader, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, said: ‘BJP is going to win in Raebareli and Amethi by a huge margin. The people of Raebareli will never accept Rahul Gandhi.’

Raebareli is traditionally a safe seat of the Congress where BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh will take on Rahul Gandhi.