'Cong has run away; HP poll one-sided'

Una: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the Congress, saying it had "run away" from the Himachal Pradesh electoral battle, which he described as a contest being fought by the people of the state.

Campaigning for the third day in a row in the state that goes to the polls on November 9, he said the election was not being fought by his party, the BJP, but the people of the state who were out to "teach" a lesson to the Congress for corruption and poor law and order.

"I am sad as I am not enjoying the election this time, as the Congress party has left the ground and run away. These elections have become one-sided," he said at a rally here.

Attacking the Congress on the issue of corruption, Modi accused the previous Congress-led government at the Centre of abusing subsidies worth Rs 57,000 crore. He claimed he had stopped this misuse, and the money was now being used for the welfare of the poor.

"Never has there been a one-sided election as seen in this election. The reason for this is that the country knows what the Congress government is like and what its intentions are," he said. In the last 20 years, Modi said, he had not seen an election like this. "After being in politics for so long, I can sense which way the wind is blowing. But this time one can see a storm in Himachal. The anger of the public is coming out against corruption, bad law and order, for protection of women and daughters," Modi added. The people of the state, he said, had decided to teach a lesson to Congress's "Sultanate".

"This time we have to admit that it's not the BJP, or its workers or leaders, fighting (the poll). Himachal's election is being fought by the people of the state who have decided to teach a lesson to Congress's 'Sultanate'," he said.

The Congress's top leaders, holding rallies in Himachal, had "dared to face the public" and attack him and state leaders such as Prem Kumar Dhumal. But they had nothing to say, Modi stressed. He said middlemen had looted the treasury in the name of subsidies in the past. "Over Rs 57,000 crore in subsidies were looted by middlemen. Modi has stopped all this and this money is now being spent for the welfare of the poor," he said, holding that this was the reason for the Congress's attack on him. He also took a dig at former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for his statement that out of one rupee spent from Delhi, only 15 paisa reached the villages., saying that Gandhi was merely painting a picture of what the Congress did.

Dharamsala: The Congress on Sunday upped the ante on the issue of GST, drawing a parallel between lines made famous by Bollywood villain Gabbar Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's characteristic way of addressing the people.

"People feared Gabbar (Singh) when he used to say 'kitne aadmi the (how many people were there)' and now they fear Modi when he says 'mitron (friends)' because they do not know what is coming next," party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a rally here.

Surjewala's remarks come days after Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi dubbed the Goods and Services Tax "Gabbar Singh Tax" during a rally in Gujarat.

The Congress leader claimed the Modi government was the first central government to levy a tax on farmers in the form of the GST.

"Eighteen per cent tax is levied on agriculture and 12 per cent on agriculture equipment... the first time in India.

"Farmers are working hard to fill our stomachs, and they must be exempt from tax... That is why Rahul Gandhi has termed GST Gabbar Singh Tax," he said.

Surjewala accused the Modi government of being "anti" Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls on November 9, and reneging on the promises the BJP made to the people of the state before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.