Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a no-holds-barred attack against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi by referring to him as “Moorkhon ke Sardar” for the latter’s claim of ‘Made in China’ dominance among mobile phones in India.

Addressing a poll rally in Betul district in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the PM took a swipe at the former Congress president without naming him and said that the Congress suffers from a mental disease of not acknowledging India’s achievements. India, he claimed, has now become the second leading manufacturer of mobile phones in the world.

“One wise leader of the Congress said yesterday that everyone in India has ‘Made in China’ mobile phones. Arre Murkhon ke Sardar, (the leader of stupid people) in which world do you live! The leaders of the Congress have this mental disease of not recognising the achievements of their own countrymen,” the PM said.

Modi said he wondered which foreign lens the Congress leaders use as they are absolutely clueless about what is happening in the country. “The leaders of the Congress are flying so high that they can’t see the poor on the ground and are also clueless about the ground realities,” the Prime Minister said, adding that India has now become the second leading manufacturer of mobile phones in the world.

Addressing a rally earlier in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi had said that Chinese products dominate the Indian market. “we see ‘Made in China’ on shirts, cameras, mobile phones. Have you ever seen ‘Made in Madhya Pradesh’ written on any product? The Congress wants to start factories in Madhya Pradesh so that the youth of the state get job opportunities. We hope a day comes when a youth takes out his mobile phone in China and that phone has been manufactured in Madhya Pradesh,” Rahul said.

The remarks by the Prime Minister have triggered a sharp reaction from the Congress which claims that he used “foul language” since he is aware that the BJP is losing the the assembly elections. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already aware of the results of the elections, and this is the reason why the prime minister of the country is using such foul language and calling Rahul Gandhi a ‘murkh’,” Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the PM had abused the public with his remarks against the Congress leader. “The Prime Minister’s ego has increased so much that now he is abusing the public,” he said.

The BJP, however, has defended the PM’s remark with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stating that what PM Modi said was already “common knowledge”.

“There is nothing new in that. People all over India know what he is. You must have seen him in Parliament how he used to approach the Prime Minister…He keeps talking about ‘Mohabbat’ and ‘Dukaan’. Can ‘Mohabbat’ and ‘Dukaan’ be together? ‘Mohabbat’ means true love and ‘Dukaan’ is for sale and purchase…So love can never have a shop. Someone gives a script to Rahul Gandhi and he just reads it. He is trying to show him as an angry young man. So that’s why I think that what the Prime Minister has said, everyone in India knows it. This is what is in everyone’s mind,” Sarma added.