Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of providing “15 of his friends” with “maximum income guarantee”. Gandhi took a jibe at the prime minister, a day after the Congress president said his party would ensure that every poor person in the country receives minimum income if it returns to power after the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress chief criticised Modi at a public rally in Kerala’s Kochi. “If you are Anil Ambani, you have the guarantee to maximum income you can get,” Gandhi said. “Jobs can be stolen from the people of Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited can be pushed aside and Anil Ambani can be given a contract, and for five years, people of India have watched this tamasha.”

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His comments were reference to his party’s allegations that the Centre signed an overpriced deal and helped industrialist Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence Ltd, which had no prior experience in the sector before landing a contract with Dassault Aviation that manufactures the fighter jets.

The Congress chief also cited the names of businessmen allegedly involved in corporate fraud cases. “Nirav Modi – 45,000 crore, Mehul Choksi – 30,000 crore. Vijay Mallya – 10,000 crore, Lalit Modi...,” Gandhi said. “We [Congress] will not allow an India where 15 persons can live like kings and have anything they want.”

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the Congress for promising minimum income for poor people. Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore on Monday accused the Congress of making empty promises. “Mr Gandhi, your governments in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are not even able to live up to the promise of farm loan waivers or the Rs 3,500 stipend for unemployed youth!” Rathore tweeted.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also questioned the Gandhi-led party’s commitment to fulfill the promise.