PANDHARKAWDA: Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti chief Kishore Tiwari, who held a farmers rally at Pandharkawda, 150 km from Nagpur, on Friday, took a dig at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, whose visit to Kalawati's house and his subsequent speech in Parliament made her famous.

"He (Rahul) came, saw, and did nothing. Rahul said in Parliament he met Kalawati and also Shashikala, and everyone thought this would bring some relief to them. But his party cajoled the MP from this district to help the UPA in the confidence motion,'' said Tiwari, referring to abstention of Haribhau Rathod, the BJP MP from Yavatmal.

"Rathod's abstention helped the UPA government to sail through the trust vote, and not stories about Kalawati and Shashikala,'' Tiwari said sarcastically, making the audience, including Kalawati, burst into laughter. "Rahul's speech has made this woman so famous that she has no time to eat, work in the fields or even attend nature's call,'' he said.

"She must begin charging at least Rs 2000 for each interview and she would not need any government help,'' he said.