The BJP on Friday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he filed nomination to contest from Raebareli with Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying he will lose the polls against the BJP candidate by a huge margin.

Mocking Rahul Gandhi as someone who runs away from the battlefield, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh targeted him for shifting his Lok Sabha constituency to Rae Bareli and said he could not gather the courage to contest from Amethi.

Addressing a public rally in Hukkeri (Karnataka), Shah said Rahul Gandhi is contesting the elections from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh after running away from Amethi and predicted that he will lose the polls there against the BJP candidate by a huge margin.

He also said former AICC President Sonia Gandhi’s multiple attempts to “launch” Rahul Gandhi had failed and claimed that this was the twenty-first attempt.

The top BJP leader addressed a public meeting here in Belagavi district for party candidate from Chikkodi Lok Sabha segment Annasaheb Jolle.

“Modi ji tried and at once Chandrayaan (mission to Moon) got launched. Sonia Gandhi has launched this ‘yaan’ named Rahul Baba (Rahul Gandhi) twenty times, but her launching has not been successful. Today for the twenty-first time, running away from Amethi, he has filed nomination from Raebareli,” Shah said.

He said, “Rahul Baba, I’m telling the result of Raebareli from here. Against BJP’s candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, you will lose by a huge margin. Write down my words.”

In Rohtak, Rajnath said people like Rahul Gandhi want to lead the country, the senior BJP leader said in a swipe at the former Congress president at a public meeting there, claiming that many Congress leaders wanted him to contest from Amethi but he chose to run away. “I am concerned that he may be given a different name after running away from this battle,” Rajnath said.

In New Delhi, the BJP took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi saying he is contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Rae Bareli in addition to Wayanad in Kerala, as he is going to lose the contest in the southern State.

“Bhag Rahul bhag, Rahul bhag, Rahul bhag (run Rahul run) —this is what will go on now,” Dushyant Kumar Gautam, the national general secretary of the BJP, told a press conference at the party headquarters when asked about Rahul Gandhi contesting the polls from the Rae Bareli seat.

When pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the former Congress chief not to run out of fear, Gautam quipped, “Well, he (Gandhi) is a kid. He should be encouraged.”