Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi poses for a photograph with a family during his road show at Petlad village of Kheda district on Monday. (PTI Photo)

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday avoided what could have been a major embarrassment for the party’s Gujarat campaign ahead of Assembly elections in the state. While talking about job scarcity in the country as part of his rally in Vadodra, Rahul almost confused the name of former PM Manmohan Singh with the present PM Narendra Modi. (Watch the video below). “Hamare desh ka focus, hamari leadership ka focus, Manmoh…Modi ji ka focus jobs pe nahi hai. Aur aapke bhavisya ke liye, ham sab ke bhavisya ke liye, desh nka focus jobs pe lana parega. (The focus of our country, focus of our leadership, Manmo…Modi ji’s focus is not on jobs. And for your future, for everyone’s focus, it is necessary to bring country’s focus on jobs.)

“Ye acceptible hi nahi hai ki hamara jo selfie ho rahi has wo made in China selfie ho. Mai chahta hoo ki China ki ladke, ladkiya jab selfie le to unhe dikhe Made in India, Made in Gujarat, Made in Baroda. Ye badlav lana hai. Koi badi baat nahi hai. (It is not at all acceptable that the selfies that we take are ‘Made in China selfies. I want that when boys and girls in China take selfies then they see Made in India, Made in Gujarat, Made in Vadodra.”

वडोदरा में छात्रों के बीच राहुल गांधी #ATVideo
अन्य वीडियो: https://t.co/0lHmKyGH0i pic.twitter.com/RSLV633Fmy

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In Vadodra, Rahul targeted PM Modi on issues like jobs, GST etc. “Any economic reform has to be tested with a response from people; law and taxes have to be evolved. We had told the govt to take GST slowly to the people by testing it; but Jaitley ji was not in the mood.”

Rahul, who is expected to be made Congress president by the end of this month, also said petrol and diesel should be brought under the ambit of GST as it will lead to fall in their prices. Taking a dig at BJP, Rahul said, “You cannot run this country by cruelty; compassion (karuna) is the key. If you don’t listen to people in a country like India, you will hurt them; govt must hear. It benefits.”

The Congress vice-president further said, “BJP does extreme things; but Congress has also not focused on small businesses perfectly, I must admit.” He accused the Gujarat government of privatising all sectors. “Gujarat government is privatising every sector; neglecting public sector, especially education,” Gandhi said. He added that in coming days, competition for employment is between India and China.

On demonetisation, Rahul commented, “India cannot be made cashless immediately; it has to be effected smoothly.”