PM Modi said Congress was unable to get allies and even if they did, he didn't see them succeeding
Highlights
- The Congress has lost its mental balance after losing power: PM Modi said
- PM Modi said Congress is looking for alliance partners outside India
- BJP has been accusing Rahul Gandhi of speaking Pakistan's language
In the middle of the Rafale blowout, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today used a rally in Madhya Pradesh, where elections are due by the year-end, to lash out at the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi.
In keeping with the ruling BJP's theme of Rahul Gandhi's "international conspiracy" to target the government, PM Modi said: "The Congress has lost its mental balance after losing power. After not finding any in India, it's looking for alliance partners outside the country... Now will a foreign country decide who will be the country's Prime Minister?"
He was apparently referring to a tweet by former Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik who had said that Rahul Gandhi will be next PM of India if he follows 'Jet Gate' (Rafale deal) properly".
The BJP has been accusing Rahul Gandhi of speaking Pakistan's language in his attacks on PM Modi, which escalated after ex-French president Francois Hollande's bombshell last week that France did not have a choice in the selection of Anil Ambani's inexperienced defence firm as an offset partner for Rafale maker Dassault in the 59,000 crore deal for 36 fighter jets.
The Prime Minister said the Congress was unable to get allies and even if they did get any, he didn't see them succeeding.
"The Congress is too arrogant and vain to go to small parties. But now they are going to every small party around and begging them. If they would have done some introspection, then this state of going and hugging, getting photographs clicked with leaders of parties, and begging for alliance would not have come," PM Modi said.
"What has happened to the 125-year-old Congress? ... You need to look for the Congress party with a microscope now."
He said it was time for the opposition to change itself.
"I came to politics in 2001. Before that I was a working for the Sangh (RSS). But since then you used all your power to abuse me. You left no stone unturned to defame me. But the more muck they (Congress) throw, more lotuses will bloom, in every booth, every block, every village, every city and every corner of the country."
He also said "vote-bank politics" had destroyed the nation like termites over the past seven decades.
Referring to triple talaq or instant divorce among Muslims, PM Modi said the practice is not acceptable even in Islamic countries.
"Even the party with a woman at the helm is not concerned about our Muslim sisters. This is the deformed face of vote bank politics," he said, targeting the Congress.