Shimla, Apr 17 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday demanded ban on poll campaigning by Congress President Rahul Gandhi alleging that his repeated "chowkidar chor hai" jibe alluding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was violative of the model code of conduct.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted a memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner, Thakur said, "Rahul Gandhi is indulging in mudslinging against the Prime Minister. Calling the Prime Minister a thief is an insult to the 130 crore people of India."

"Not only that, to give his words credibility, Gandhi made a reckless effort to misuse the name of the Supreme Court, which on BJP's contempt petition clarified that it hadn't made any comment against the Prime Minister. All this is too dangerous for the democracy," Thakur said.

The Chief Minister said Gandhi himself was accused of scams worth thousands of crore. "Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi, brother-in-law Robert Vadra and several other national level Congress leaders are out on bail in various cases. Such tainted politicians have no moral right to call the Prime Minister a thief," he said.