New Delhi, May 7 (IANS): The Congress on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi be barred from election campaigning for calling former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi "corrupt".

Senior Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Salman Khurshid, Rajeev Shukla met Election Commission on Monday evening to lodge a complaint against Modi.

"The comments of Prime Minister Modi about Rajiv Gandhi ji are serious in nature. The language he used is shameful, which cannot be uttered again," Singhvi told reporters outside the Nirvachan Bhavan, the EC headquarters.

"We have asked the commission officials to bar Modi ji from further campaigning this election."

Taking a jibe at Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Modi at a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh on Saturday had said: "Your father was termed 'Mr Clean' by his courtiers, but his life ended as 'bhrashtachari' (corrupt) No. 1."

Congress leaders on Sunday described Modi as a "sick man" and "psychopath" for attacking the former Prime Minister for electoral gains.

Singhvi said Rajiv Gandhi was given a clean chit by the Delhi High Court in the Bofors defence deal case in 2005 and later in 2018 by the Supreme Court.

He said Modi was violating laws everyday and he was not scared of the Constitution or the EC.

"Modi ji does not care about Indian culture and tradition. He is resorting to cheap politics."