'Modi ji... I am a bigger fakir than you', Gehlot takes jibe at PM

JAIPUR: Referring to himself as a 'fakir', Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the people of the state should trust him.

"Whatever I say, I say from my heart. Modi ji... I am a bigger fakir than you. You must have noted that Modi ji does not repeat the dress he wears once. I don't know if the dress is changed once, twice or three times a day. But I keep my dress the same... Am I not a fakir," Gehlot asked during the inauguration ceremony of new districts at the Birla Auditorium here.

"I have not bought a plot in my life, nor did I buy a flat. I have not purchased a single gram of gold. Can he be a bigger fakir than me? His spectacles cost Rs 2.5 lakh," Gehlot said without taking the Prime Minister's name.

The Chief Minister also said many a times it comes to his mind to leave the CM's chair, but the post is not leaving him.

"Let the high command decide, and I will definitely accept its decision. It takes courage to say that I want to leave the post, but the post is not leaving me," he said.

Stating that he respects the post of Prime Minister, Gehlot said, "The Prime Minister belongs to the country, he does not belong to the BJP. However, the Prime Minister is still under the illusion that he is the PM of the BJP. He is the Prime Minister of Hindus only, which is a very dangerous thing. You have been elected as the Prime Minister of a democracy, and democracy was established in the country by the Congress."