New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi dug up the skeletons of the Congress on Saturday, pointing at the Bofors scam in which late PM Rajiv Gandhi was accused of receiving kickbacks from the Swedish gun maker, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra tried to garner sympathy points for the Amethi battle.

Prime Minister Modi, on Saturday, said at a rally that while Rajiv Gandhi was called ‘Mr Clean’ by his “courtiers”, but his life ended as “Bhrashtachari no.1” (corrupt number 1).

Also read: Rajiv Gandhi’s life ended as ‘Bhrashtachari No 1’: Modi’s retort to Bofors scam

In a tweet, Vadra said that while the PM had “insulted” martyrs by “asking for votes in their names”, he also “disrespected” a “good” and “pious” man, referring to her father. Interestingly, she went on to connect the PM’s attack on her late father to the current battle of Amethi where her brother and the Congress chief Rahul is facing a tough challenge from BJP’s Smriti Irani.

The Amethi battle, a seat that has long been held as a family bastion by the Gandhis, has emerged as a pitched one for the first time in Indian electoral history. The choice of Rahul Gandhi to also contest from Wayanad, the demography of which is equally poised between Muslims and Hindus, has also hurt the electoral prospects of the Gandhi scion in Amethi. The BJP has made the most of this, alleging that Gandhi has accepted defeat in Amethi even before the polling.

“The prime minister who insulted martyrs by asking for votes in their name went on to disrespect the sacrifice of a pious and good man in his unbridled frenzy. Reply will be given by the people of Amethi for whom Rajiv Gandhi laid down his life. Yes, Modiji this country never spares a cheat,” Vadra said in her tweet.

Rahul Gandhi too hit back at PM Modi. He tweeted: “Modi Ji, The battle is over. Your Karma awaits you. Projecting your inner beliefs about yourself onto my father won’t protect you. All my love and a huge hug. Rahul.”