Modi taunts Rahul on Gandhi family turf

NEW DELHI: Indian frontrunner for prime minister Narendra Modi taunted the Gandhi political dynasty on its home turf Monday, saying "nothing" could rescue the ruling Congress party from defeat.
Congress has ruled India for most of the period since independence from Britain in 1947 and is synonymous with the Nehru-Gandhi clan which has provided the country with three leaders, according to a news agency.
Modi -- a Hindu nationalist hardliner -- called on voters in the northern constituency of Amethi, represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, to "break ties with the (Gandhi) family" over a lack of basic amenities as the crowd roared approval.
"These people (the Gandhis) have destroyed three generations in Amethi," Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said.
"But good days are coming," Modi, 63, said as India's marathon election heads into its final stretch.
Modi's rally in Rahul's constituency, a poor wheat-growing region, was significant as no top leader usually campaigns in the political backyard of a top rival.
Modi, a fiery orator, told voters "nothing can save the Congress government now".
Rahul, who's spearheading the flailing Congress campaign, has represented Amethi for a decade.

Rahul, 43, was groomed for the leading role by his mother, Italian-born Sonia, president of the Congress party. Modi jibed Monday "all that training has gone down the drain".
"Voters have already fired the mother-son government."