Raj Cong is trying to run each other out, says PM

On a day when the country was gripped by the fever of the cricket World Cup final, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday used analogy from the sport to take a swipe at the Rajasthan Congress, saying it is like a cricket team whose batters spent five years trying to run each other out.

Addressing poll rallies in Taranagar (in Churu district) and Jhunjhunu in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates ahead of the November 25 assembly elections, the PM appealed to the people to vote for the party to ensure rapid development of Rajasthan.

"In cricket, a batter comes and scores runs for his team. But there is so much infighting within the Congress that instead of scoring runs, its leaders spent five years trying to run out each other," Modi said at a rally in Churu, referring to the power tussle between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

Other Congress leaders got "hit wicket by making irresponsible statements on women and other issues while the remaining were taking money and doing match fixing," Modi quipped. "When their team is so bad, what runs will they score and what work will they do for you?"

Pilot in July hinted that he has buried the hatchet with Gehlot, with whom he had been embroiled in a power struggle ever since the Congress came to power in the state in 2018, on party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's advice of "forgive and forget".