Krishnanagar (West Bengal), May 7 (IANS): Taking a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said that those who never used to visit their constituency even once in five years were now running from lane to lane on polling day as the people had "crushed their pride".
In an oblique reference to Gandhi, who visited a number of polling booths of his Amethi constituency during the day, Modi said the people there have "crushed the pride of those who used to consider it as their pocket borough". Amethi went to the polls Wednesday.
Attacking the Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, he said at an election rally that they used to think that the public would always dance to their tune.
"Congress' mother-son who run the central government are so conceited that they used to think they have the public in their pocket. They thought they can make the public dance to their tune whenever and wherever they wanted."
"Those who used to think that Amethi is their pocket boropugh, and never went to Amethi even once in five years, now on the polling day are going to the lanes and by-lanes of Amethi with folded hands.
"The public of Amethi have crushed yoru pride. They have forced you to run around the lanes. They have forced you to bow down to the electorate," said Modi.
In a first in the last one decade, Rahul Gandhi Wednesday reached Amethi during voting.
Gandhi's visit comes as the going seemed to be getting tough for the incumbent MP, more so after Modi visited the family bastion and urged the people to shun dynastic politics and vote for development instead. The BJP had fielded actress-turned-politician Smriti Irani as its candidate against Gandhi.