Congress President Rahul Gandhi has attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not respecting the seniors or Gurus in their party. Recounting an incident from the epic Mahabharata, the Congress President said that the "Ekalavya cut off his right thumb because his Guru demanded it. In the BJP, they cut down their own Gurus. Humiliating Vajpayeeji, Advaniji, Jaswant Singhji and their families is the Prime Minister’s way of protecting Indian culture.

Earlier today, the Congress leader slammed Modi for "not talking" about employment for youth and farmers and said that his fight was against the government's policies.

Gandhi, who appeared before a court in Bhiwandi town here in connection with a defamation case filed against him by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker, also dared the BJP and the RSS to slap as many cases on him as they wanted to.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will face trial in the defamation case filed against him by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker after the  magistrate court framed charges against him. Gandhi pleaded not guilty in the case.

The 47-year-old Congress leader arrived at the magistrate's court in Bhiwandi at 11.05 am amid heavy security cover and was greeted by people raising slogans in his support.

The Congress President also asked his party corporators in Mumbai to work unitedly to strengthen its presence in the metropolis ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls, party sources said.

Interacting with Congress corporators in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Gandhi also asked them to toil for "at least doubling" the party's presence in the cash-rich civic body.

The sources said that during the hour-long interaction held at the Mumbai Cricket Association Bandra-Kurla Complex here, the Congress chief told the corporators that they were "special" to him given the circumstances in which they emerged victorious in the 2017 municipal polls. The Congress, which has 31 members in the 227-member BMC, has been out of power in the civic body for nearly two decades now.

In the course of the past few days, the Congress President has been very vocal in his criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi especially on Twitter. Gandhi has taken the battle to the government through Twitter by attacking the present government on multiple fronts ranging from fuel price rise to other issues. (With Agency Inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 12, 2018 10:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).