Mumbai, May 10: After the bitter verbal spat between BJP and Congress in poll-bound Karnataka state, in a bid to woo voters, the Congress party Chief Rahul Gandhi on Thursday while speaking to reporters said PM Narendra Modi could continue his attack if it pleases him. Rahul's reaction has come after PM made a jibe on his mother and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi for being Italian and not Indian.

Rahul said, "My mother is Italian but has lived larger part of her life in India. My mother sacrificed for this country. If the PM likes to abuse her, he may do so if it pleases him," while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru today.

Sonia Gandhi  addressed a rally in Bijapur district of Karnataka after two years on Tuesday. Targeting Congress over Sonia's rally, BJP in a tweet, mocked  Sonia as 'Antonio Maino'. Taking the jibe further, the tweet alleged she (Sonia) is solely responsible for wasting India's precious ten years.

In the press conference, he further slammed PM Modi for keeping quiet over Dokhlam issue. "PM visited China but did not speak a word. His way of handling situation is incorrect and creating a wrong impression of India over foreign policy," said Rahul.

The Karnataka assembly elections 2018, comes to an end on Thursday at 5 pm with the Model Code of Conduct coming into force and staying until May 13, the polling day. The election will be held on May 12 in 223 constituencies, out of the 224 constituencies, while the counting of votes and announcement of result will take place on May 15. The election for one constituency has been postponed following the death of B N Vijay Kumar, the Jayanagar BJP candidate.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2018 04:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).