Karnataka polls not about me, Modi trying to distract people: Rahul

Under attack from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for declaring his prime ministerial ambitions, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the former of trying to distract voters from issues concerning Karnataka's future, and said the elections were not about him.

Addressing the media here on the last day of campaigning, when Gandhi was quizzed about Modi's attack on him following his declaration, he said: "As far as PM's remarks are concerned this is Karnataka election. All these remarks are aimed at distracting the voters."

Gandhi had officially thrown his hat into the ring on Tuesday. When asked by the media whether he harboured prime ministerial ambitions, the Congress chief said: "Yes, why not?" If his party emerged as the single-largest party in 2019.

"Modi likes to distract people. This election has nothing to do with Rahul Gandhi. This election is about the future of Karnataka. Narendra Modi has nothing to say about the future of Karnataka. He is therefore distracting.

"I am not going to engage in that distraction," Gandhi said.

During an interaction with eminent citizens in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Gandhi had also said that Modi would not be the Prime Minister again.

Modi on Wednesday dismissed Gandhi's remarks calling him an immature and arrogant "naamdar" (dynast), who does not have confidence in his alliance partners and does not care about Congress' internal democracy.

Rahul Gandhi's press conference big talks ...

• When Rohit Vemula was killed, Dalits were beaten in Una, Modi did not even say a word.
• We will raise the issues of Dalits, it is our job, we have a question that why does not the Prime Minister raise issues of the Dalits?
• Modi wants to mislead people. This is Karnataka's election, not Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi's.
• Raphael's deal was a great deal for the BJP leaders and their friends.
• Rahul also said that we went to Karnataka and asked the people and their voice included in the manifesto. He claimed that BJP has copied our manifesto.
• Rahul said that he learned a lot from the people of Karnataka. He also said that we are contesting on the issues and he is confident about his victory in the state.
• This is a battle between the ideology of Karnataka and RSS, the fact is that they are now horribly nervous and they have realized their defeat in Karnataka.