Rahul says Modi's attack on his PM ambitions is to 'distract' attention

Congress party president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attack on him declaring his prime ministerial ambitions was aimed at distracting attention. "This election is not about Rahul," the Congress president said. "I have now learned to deal with the prime minister. When he can't respond, he distracts," Gandhi told reporters in Bengaluru -- the capital of Karnataka -- after winding up his extensive tour of the poll-bound southern Indian state. Gandhi was responding to Modi's scathing attack on him after he declared his prime ministerial ambition. At his election rallies, Modi had wondered whether the country will ever accept such an "immature and naamdar (famous)" leader for the post. He also said Modi sees a 'threat' in him. "Modi has anger inside... he has anger for everybody, not just me ...and sees a threat to me," Gandhi said.

Expressing confidence that the Congress would win the assembly polls in Karnataka on May 12, he said the Opposition had restricted itself to making personal attacks during the campaign. The BJP, he said, feels "uncomfortable" when he visits a temple. "I don't think BJP understands the term Hindu," the Congress leader said. The senior Congress leader also dismissed Modi indirectly over his mother's (Sonia Gandhi) Italian origins. "My mother is Italian. She has lived a large part of her life in India. She is more Indian than many people I see," he said. The Congress president added that our foreign policy has been decimated.