Agencies/New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi yesterday attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for “insulting” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and asked people to choose a “dream team” in 2014 by junking the “dirty team” of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
Addressing his first rally in Delhi in his new avatar, Modi also hit out at Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for reportedly calling Singh a “dehati aurat” (rural woman).
There was a huge turnout - the crowds estimated at between 200,000 and 500,000 - at the sprawling Japanese Park in north Delhi, with the Gujarat chief minister cheered by an army of young supporters who kept a steady chant of “Modi! Modi!” Several diplomats also turned up to hear Modi.
Like elsewhere in the country, Modi overshadowed the local leaders of the BJP including Delhi president Vijay Goel and veterans Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Vijender Gupta. Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari was also present.
“When his own party leader calls the PM ‘nonsense’, how can he (PM) get respect abroad?” the BJP star asked, triggering a wild round of applause and sloganeering.
Modi was referring to Gandhi’s outburst on Friday against an ordinance passed by the cabinet that sought to overturn a Supreme Court ruling disqualifying politicians convicted of crime. Gandhi had called it “complete nonsense.”
Referring to Gandhi as “prince,” Modi said: “If I may use a rural terminology, then Congress upadhyaksh ne pradhan mantri ki pagdi uchhal di (the Congress vice president has insulted the prime minister).”
In his 65-minute speech, Modi urged people to choose between democracy and dynasty in the next Lok Sabha election.
“There is a war between dynastic rule and democracy,” he said of the Gandhis. “The dynastic rule is trying to strangle democracy. Will the country function on the basis of constitution or on the whims of the prince?
“The dynastic rule and the prince are not just insulting the prime minister but insulting the constitution, the parliament and democracy,” he added.
Modi targeted growing corruption and said the Congress-led government was hit by “policy paralysis” and that its “non-governance” was akin to diabetes.
“For 10 years the nation has tolerated UPA. In 2014, the country needs a dream team, not a dirty team. This dirty team needs to be uprooted,” he thundered, as the crowds roared.
Modi also mocked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit but without taking her name, saying she only “cut ribbons” and passed the buck if and when things went wrong.
Attacking Sharif for describing Singh as a “dehati aurat” (rural woman) in New York, Modi asked, raising his voice: “Nawaz Sharif, how dare you say this? What right do you have to say this?”
He said that while he was ready to take on Singh within India, he would not tolerate any attack on the prime minister by a foreigner.
“There can never be a greater insult to the Indian PM. There cannot be a greater insult to India,” he said of Sharif’s reported remark.
Modi’s comments came hours before Singh and Sharif met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Modi did not spare Singh either, doubting his ability to raise tough questions with Sharif - on Jammu and Kashmir and on the killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops.
“I doubt if you will be able to meet Nawaz Sharif with your head held high because in the past few years you have lost your habit of speaking.
Modi was elected the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate early this month before national elections due by next May.
The rally helped launched the BJP’s campaign for the Delhi state elections, to be held later this year and seen as a dry run for the national polls.
The BJP is seeking to overthrow the Congress-led coalition government, which has been embroiled in a string of graft scandals and is desperate to boost sluggish economic growth, after almost a decade in power.  
But Modi is a polarising figure - tainted by deadly anti-Muslim riots on his watch in 2002, but also credited with turning Gujarat into an economic powerhouse.
Modi was also chief minister at the time of the riots, during which as many as 2,000 people were killed, mainly Muslims. He is accused of turning a blind eye to the violence but denies any wrongdoing.