Cong will pay heavily for 'chaiwala' meme: Vijay Rupani

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Nov 28: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘chaiwala’ on social media has not gone down well with the people of the state and “Congress will have to pay heavily for it in the assembly elections”.

Replying to questions from Rajat Sharma in India TV's daylong mega conclave 'Chunav Manch' in Ahmedabad, Mr Rupani said, "Congress has made fun of the poor people by portraying Modiji as 'chaiwala'. The party has made fun of all 'chaiwalas' and it has denigrated India around the world. They will have to pay a heavy price (in the elections).
"This act exposes the Congress' mentality that the Prime Minister should be from their (Gandhi-Nehru) family. A poor man cannot become the PM. A 'chaiwala' cannot become the PM. The party president should be from the family." 
When pointed that Dr Manmohan Singh was made the PM despite hailing from a poor family, Mr Rupani alleged that the Congress wanted to make its president Sonia Gandhi the PM but was forced to replace her with Dr Singh.
Asked about Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi allegations that much of Narmada water was being given to industrialists, Mr Rupani said, “The allegations are baseless. Seventy eight per cent of Narmada water is being given to around 9,000 villages and 167 municipalities. We've given 20 per cent for irrigation and only two per cent is given to industries. Our first priority is drinking water followed by irrigation and then industries," the Chief Minister said.
Mr Rupani also claimed that he had camped in Banaskantha for five days to carry out relief work during this year's floods, whereas "Congress MLAs were enjoying at a five-star resort in Bengaluru". 
He said his government has done much for the farmers and trading community and all issues relating to GST are being addressed to. UNI