Natarajan was propped up when I attacked Modi: Rahul

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said his former fellow party leader Jayanthi Natarajan was propped up against him after he slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"A few days back, I said something against Modi, and the next day, they propped up Jayanthi Natarajan," Rahul Gandhi said at a Congress rally at Azadpur in north Delhi ahead of the polls to the 70-member Delhi assembly Saturday.

He accepted that he had advised Natarajan, the then minister of state of environment and forests, to work for the poor and the tribals. He said he was was not "scared" of anyone.

Natarajan quit the Congress recently after alleging that the party vice president interfered in the working of her ministry.

"I have fought for the poor, the tribals... I told Jayanthi Natarajan to protect the environment, the tribals and the poor... and I am not scared of anyone," he said.

"I will keep fighting for the poor... I am not here for four-five industrialists," he added.

Several Congress leaders had rebutted Natarajan's allegations and said that neither Congress president Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi ever interfered with the functioning of the UPA government and ministries.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, called Rahul Gandhi's statement a "bizarre confession".

"This is a bizarre confession which will trap him further. He has agreed with what Jayanthi Natarajan exposed," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.