‘Arre murkhon ke sardar…’: PM Modi’s dig at Rahul Gandhi over his ‘Made in China’ remark

Betul (Madhya Pradesh) [India], November 14 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi without taking his name and mocked the Wayanad MP calling him 'Murkhon Ke Sardar'after the latter's claim on the dominance of "Made in China" mobile phones in India.
Addressing a rally in Betul district of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the PM took a swipe at the Congress and said that the leaders of the party have this mental disease of not recognising the achievements of their own countrymen.
"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.
He further said that 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.
Further, he claimed that India has now become the second leading manufacturer of mobile phones in the world.
"When Congress was in power at the Centre, India used to make mobile phones worth less than Rs 20,000 crore. Today, India manufactures mobile phones worth over Rs 3.5 lakh crore. We export mobile phones worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore to other countries," PM Modi said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP government and claimed that the Indian market is being dominated by Chinese products.
"Today, 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 had said at a rally in Madhya Pradesh.
The state is set to undergo polls on November 17 and the counting of votes will take place on December 3. Voters will choose legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.
Notably, the last state assembly polls in 2018 saw the Congress coming to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister. Nonetheless, a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020 after then-Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the saffron camp.
The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister.
On Tuesday Rahul Gandhi, as his party wants to return to the power, claimed that there would be a 'toofan' (storm) of the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh and that people of the state are going to give 145-150 seats to the party in the upcoming state assembly polls.
"I have visited Madhya Pradesh several times now. I can tell cent per cent that there will be a 'toofan' of the Congress party here. You can write it down, people of Madhya Pradesh are going to give 145-150 seats to the Congress party," the Congress leader said. (ANI)