Hosapete (Ballari), (DHNS): Congress president Rahul Gandhi kicked off his Karnataka campaign on Saturday mounting an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "driving looking at the rear-view mirror" while showering praise on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, pitting the two against each other to set the stage for the polls.

"When you drive looking into the rear-view mirror, you make mistakes like demonetization and Gabbar Singh Tax (GST)," Rahul said. "Modi should learn from Siddaramaiah. He looks front and knows if he's going the wrong way, he doesn't give excuses, helps farmers, gives canteens in cities and helps the poor," he said.

Rahul was speaking at the launch of the party's Janaasirvaada Yatra in Hosapete in Ballari, from where his mother Sonia Gandhi was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999. Launching of the Yatra marked the start of Rahul's four-day tour of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

Unemployment and corruption were keynotes in Rahul's speech as he targeted Modi on job creation and the Rafale deal. "We asked Modi in Parliament how many jobs were created against the promise of 2 crore jobs every year. The reply was that 450 jobs are created in 24 hours, most of them in Karnataka. Modiji, Siddaramaiah and Karnataka are doing their job. When will you do yours?" Rahul asked.

Modi was using the Congress as an excuse. "India doesn't want a history lesson from its PM. India wants to know what the PM will do for a better future."

Rahul countered Modi's "10% sarkar" remark against Siddaramaiah by targeting BJP state president and chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa. "Modi gives a speech with Yeddyurappa next to him. It was his government that broke the world record of corruption with land scam, mining scam, medical scam…" he said.

On SC/ST welfare, Rahul once again compared Modi with Siddaramaiah. "Under the SC/ST sub plan, the BJP has given the entire country Rs 55,000 crore. But in Karnataka alone, Siddaramaiah gives Rs 27,000 crore," he pointed out.

Rahul also tore into the Gujarat model of development on the back of which he rode to power. "I was in Gujarat for four months and that's when I understood that the real change-makers were built by farmers, small businesses and labourers." He said Modi gave Rs 33,000 crore to Tatas to make Nano cars. "You won't see a single Nano today in India, but with that amount of money, Congress ran the entire MNREGA scheme," he said.