‘Run Rahul run’: BJP takes dig as Cong leader fielded from Rae Bareli in LS polls

New Delhi: The BJP took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, saying he is contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, in addition to Wayanad in Kerala, as he is going to lose the contest in the southern state.

“Bhag Rahul bhag, Rahul bhag, Rahul bhag (run Rahul run) — this is what will go on now,” Dushyant Kumar Gautam, the national general secretary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told a press conference at the party headquarters here when asked about Gandhi contesting the polls from the Rae Bareli seat.

When pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the former Congress chief not to run out of fear, Gautam quipped, “Well, he (Gandhi) is a kid. He should be encouraged.”

“But people have rejected him,” he added.

The BJP leader accused Gandhi of “betraying” the people of Wayanad by deciding to contest the ongoing elections from Rae Bareli as well.

“He has come to Rae Bareli instead of Amethi because he is losing from Wayanad,” he claimed.

Gandhi on Friday filed his nomination papers from Rae Bareli, a constituency represented in the Lok Sabha by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades.

Taking aim at Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the BJP leader said one can see how “miserably” the Congress leader, who had said “ladki hoon lad sakti hoon” in the past, has lost the courage to fight elections.

He said there were talks about the Congress fielding her from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. “They are scared… Sonia Gandhi also fled to Rajasthan,” Gautam added. Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on February 20.