BJP misleading people, will be rejected by voters: Rahul Gandhi

Comparing the BJP's election campaign to a series of films which kept failing, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Saturday said voters will reject the party, which plays dirty tricks to mislead the people, in these general elections like in the past.

On the controversy over the arrest of the party's Saharanpur nominee, Imran Masood, for a hate speech against Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, he said it was a six-month-old address in a small gathering.

His claim was supported by Saharanpur's Additional Superintendent of Police Dharamvir, who confirmed that the speech was six month old, but added that Masood continued to repeat it, if not in exact words, but those quite similar and police have recovered both the CDs (old and latest one).

Addressing an election rally here, Gandhi said the Congress never thinks of violence and it is the opposition which is rude and harsh while talking to its political opponents.

Attacking the BJP, Gandhi noted that in 2004, the BJP sought to show the entire country that India was shining but this failed to convince the voters.

"People looked around and consulted their families, asked which India was shining and decided that their India was not shining. On the day of the elections, they pressed the button and burst the bubble," he said.

He likened the Bharatiya Janata Party campaign to the "Dhoom" movie series. "The BJP campaign managers got together again in 2009 and said since Shining-I failed, let us make shining-2 and so they made that," he said.

"But we had given loan waiver to farmers (in 2009) and had brought in the rural employment guarantee act. People again came, saw the BJP balloon and burst it," he said.

Gandhi said the campaign managers of BJP have brought in a new movie this time which they have called the Gujarat model.

"Earlier they were filling air in the balloon, but this time they filled it with gas. This is the third balloon, elections are coming and the power is with you (the people) and you will press the button again and the balloon will come down," he said.

Listing the achievements of the UPA government, Gandhi said: "We have taken 15 crore people out of poverty. There are 70 crore people in India who are neither below poverty line nor in the middle class. They are the artisans, truck drivers and taxi drivers.

"We will not forget the poor. But for these 70 crore people, our aim is to put them in the middle class in the next 5-10 years. We will do this by changing the system of education of the country."

"The opposition wants to give power to just one person, but we (the Congress) want to empower all Indians," he said, adding the leaders of the Congress "talk about love and brotherhood, not anger".

Gandhi then left for Saharanpur to address a public meeting there.