A local Congress leader in Karnataka stoked controversy for his derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking about the latter's announcement of a Rs 100 reduction in LPG cylinder prices.

GS Manjunath, a Congress district-level leader, made the remarks while addressing a rally in Chitradurga. The Karnataka BJP unit posted a video of his comments.

"Elections are here and cylinder prices have been reduced by Rs 100. If I saw him, I would have taken out what was there in my foot and hit him. Why are you doing this now? As a citizen of this country, we need to ask this. You should all ask. We should learn. Congress won't listen, JD(S) won't listen and the BJP won't even listen in the first place," he said.

In Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Congress for "insulting" and "mocking" him whenever he spoke about women's empowerment, news agency ANI reported.

"Whenever I have spoken about the empowerment of women, parties like Congress made fun of me and insulted me. Modi's schemes are the result of on-ground experiences," PM Modi said at the Sashakt Nari-Viksit Bharat programme on Monday.

The development came three days after PM Modi, on the occasion of International Women's Day, announced a reduction of Rs 100 in the prices of LPG cylinders. The revised prices came into effect beginning March 9 at midnight, government sources said.

The decision, PM Modi said, was made with an aim to ease financial burdens on households. While the BJP praised the Prime Minister for his decision, the Opposition parties termed it as an "election gimmick"

Source: India Today