Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent silence on the issue of industrialists Ambani and Adani during a rally in Telangana on Wednesday. He suggested that this sudden change in rhetoric may imply a "secret deal" between the Congress and these industrialists.

Modi pointed out that Rahul Gandhi had been consistently targeting Ambani and Adani over the past five years, particularly focusing on their alleged connections with the government. However, Modi noted a shift in Rahul's discourse since the announcement of the elections, wherein he has ceased to criticize these industrialists.

“You would have seen that the Congress shahzada, for the last five years, has been repeating this. Since his Rafale row was grounded, he started repeating this – first, he spoke of five industrialists, and then Ambani-Adani, Ambani-Adani, Ambani-Adani. But even since elections were announced, they have stopped abusing the two. I want to ask the public of Telangana, the shahzada should declare – how much have they taken from Ambani-Adani? How much of black money has been taken? Have tempos full of cash reached the Congress? What’s the deal that’s been struck? Why did you stop abusing Ambani-Adani overnight? Surely something is amiss,” he said in Telangana.

In response, Congress's Praveen Chakravarty suggested that Modi's remarks indicate his discomfort with Rahul Gandhi's continued exposure of the alleged nexus between the government and Ambani-Ambani, which, according to Chakravarty, prioritizes the interests of these industrialists over those of the common people and the nation.

During the rally, Modi also criticized the Congress party's approach, contrasting it with the BJP's "Nation First" policy. He accused the Congress and similar parties of following a "family first" policy, wherein the interests of a select few take precedence over national priorities. Modi further cited the example of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, alleging that the Congress neglected and disrespected him due to its family-centric approach.

Regarding the ongoing elections, Modi claimed that after the third phase of voting, the INDI alliance's momentum had diminished, referring to it as the "third fuse" that had burst.

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Guwahati, May 19: Rajasthan Royals paid the price for their shoddy show during the business end as a washout of their final IPL league game against table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday pushed them to third place behind Sunrisers Hyderabad.

While KKR finished the league engagements on 20 points with nine wins and two more solitary points courtesy wash-outs, SRH (17 points) pipped RR (17 points) by virtue of better Net Run Rate (NRR). SRH finished with NRR of 0.414 compared to RR's 0.273.

KKR will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first Qualifier in Ahmedabad on Tuesday followed by the 'Eliminator' between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the same venue.

Rajasthan Royals would blame themselves for getting into a nice little rut after an incredible run during the first half of the tournament when they had won eight out of their nine games.

But their campaign lost a bit of steam towards the back end as they lost four games on trot and with no Jos Buttler for crunch games, facing a marauding RCB in a winner-takes-all match could be a very tough proposition.

On the other hand, SRH, a team that redefined power-hitting with optimum use of 'Impact Sub', had one of their best chases on Sunday, albeit on a track that once again resembled a highway in terms of its placid quotient. The chase of 215 against a depleted Punjab Kings with five balls to spare also bolstered their NRR just when it was needed.