Mandi (Himachal Pradesh):
Keeping up his attack on the prime minister, Narendra Modi today mocked him by calling him Maun (silent) Mohan Singh at an election rally in Himachal Pradesh.
"'Maun'mohan Singh had come to Himachal yesterday. The biggest headlines in newspapers today are that 'Maun'mohan Singhji broke his silence in Himachal. Have these two people (the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi) spoken a word on inflation? Have they given reasons for the inflation? Have they expressed any empathy with the masses over inflation?" Mr Modi said repeatedly emphasising on the Hindi word "maun".
The PM had visited Himachal Pradesh yesterday, immediately after the cabinet reshuffle, to address an election rally. The state goes to the polls in November. He said that the BJP government in the state was claiming centrally-funded schemes as its own to hoodwink voters. He said that the state had utilised about half of the Central funds provided under the rural employment guarantee scheme NREGA and a small part of the rural health allocation.
Mrs Gandhi had also addressed rallies earlier and accused the BJP government in the state of not properly utilising central funds allocated for development.
The BJP has frequently attacked the PM for what they call his "silence" over crucial issues like price rise and corruption. The Congress and the government counter this by saying that the PM regularly interacts with the media, addresses public rallies and is on the social media as well.
This is not the first time that Mr Modi has mocked and attacked the PM. When the British government ended a decade of economic apartheid of Gujarat, Mr Modi had said that the UK sees value in his state, even if the PM doesn't. He had also said that the PM can't find solutions to the country's problems because he "doesn't believe in what he is doing."