Modi ji has a credibility problem,” : Rahul Gandhi
NEW DELHI : After Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the Gujarat results as a victory for development, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday declared that the former has a “credibility problem.”
Rahul said the results in the Gujarat assembly polls+ had given a massive jolt to the BJP, as it is a clear signal that their political propaganda is no longer working on the people. PM Modi keeps trotting out the party line but the people of the country are no longer listening,” Rahul told media.
“Prime Minister said it is a victory for development and a stamp of approval for GST, but the strange thing is that in his election speeches there was neither any talk of development nor GST nor demonetisation. There is now a question mark on Modiji’s credibility,” said Mr. Gandhi in response to a question.
Mr. Gandhi said the Prime Minister in his election speeches mostly spoke about himself and the Congress party.“His forces and their organisations are repeating what he is saying but the country is not listening to them. This has been shown by the Gujarat results,” he said.
He cited Mr. Modi’s silence on the Rafale fighter jet deal and the allegations against BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah. “Modi ji talked about corruption non-stop but today why does he not utter one word about the Rafale deal? Jay Shah, Amit Shah’s son, converted ₹50,000 into ₹80 crore in three months. Why is he silent about it? This is the credibility issue,” said the 47-year-old Congress leader.
Mr. Gandhi expressed his satisfaction at the election results and thanked the people of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh We did some solid work, not just me but our entire party, and the results are before you. For us, the results are quite good even though we lost.”
The Gujarat election was a learning experience for him and the people of the State showed that “one’s opponent can be defeated by affection and brotherhood.” “Something that Mahatma Gandhi taught the nation first is ingrained in the minds of the Gujarati people. That’s what I learnt in the last three-four months,” he said.
He said “I got to know that people in Gujarat do not approve of Modi ji’s model, the marketing and propaganda is very good but it is hollow from the inside, they could not answer our campaign,” he said. He added that Monday’s outcome further showed that the credibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and by extension the BJP, has come into question.”Modi ji ki credibility pe sawal uth gaya hai, Modi ji has a credibility problem,” Rahul said.
The BJP fought off a strong challenge from Rahul Gandhi -led Congress to win the Gujarat assembly polls for the sixth straight time on Monday, taking 99 seats in the 182-member assembly, down from 115 it won in 2012, and far lower than the 150-plus seats it had hoped for. The Congress, which had 61 in 2012, made inroads in the saffron bastion by securing 77 seats in the House.
When it became apparent that the Congress had lost out to the BJP, Rahul had tweeted that the party “accepts the verdict of the people and congratulates the new governments in both states.” He also thanked his party members for fighting ” anger with dignity+
Meanwhile, News Agency PTI added from Hyderabad -The Congress party has steadily lost ground since the BJP swept to power in national elections in 2014. Congress has lost a series of state elections over the last three years, winning only the state of Punjab.
Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday indicated that the controversial statements of Mani Shankar Aiyar and Kapil Sibal might have undone the gains made by party president Rahul Gandhi during campaigning in the Gujarat elections. He claimed that Gandhi has emerged as an “alternative to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi” for the 2019 general elections.
Moily also accused Modi of trying to “emotionally blackmail” the Gujarat electorate and said political parties should not win elections on the basis of “jumlas“. “…our people like Mani Shankar Aiyar should not have raised those issues against him (prime minister),” Moily told.
He was referring to Aiyar’s “neech” remark. The BJP on Monday returned to power in Gujarat for the sixth straight time, fighting off a strong challenge from the Congress. Asked if Aiyar’s comments had an adverse electoral impact for the Congress, Moily said, “Maybe. Narendra Modi utilised that statement to hit at the Congress and also our leader. We should be very careful.”
He also termed as “unnecessary” Sibal’s statement asking the Supreme Court to defer hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi case till after the 2019 general elections.”He (Sibal) should not have made such statements. He was not authorised to make such statements on behalf of the party,” Moily said.
“It was not the party view, even then Narendra Modi utilised,” the former chief minister of Karnataka said.
(With Agency Inputs ).
