'Modi shaping surgical strike into political asset'

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shaping the Army's 2016 surgical strike across the LoC into a "political asset" and being "unsuccessful" in creating job opportunities for the youth.

Addressing a gathering at Udaipur in poll-bound Rajasthan, he also claimed that non-performing assets (NPA) of banks was Rs 2 lakh crore during UPA rule and it rose to Rs 12 lakh crore during the BJP government at the Centre.

"The government waived loans of 15 to 20 industrialists. The banking system is concentrated only for them. NPA is not of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, traders, doctors or lawyers," Gandhi said.

Referring to the surgical strikes on terror pads across the LoC on September 29, 2016, he told the gathering, "Like, during the Narendra Modi government, the surgical strike was conducted thrice during Manmohan Singh government. Are you aware of it? Modi actually reached into the Army's domain and shaped surgical strike into a political asset."

The Congress president alleged that the surgical strike was made public as the BJP was fighting elections in Uttar Pradesh.

On demonetisation and the GST implementations, Gandhi claimed that people have confusion about these.

"It was a scam, which opened doors for big companies. Demonetisation and the GST shattered the economy and broke common man's back. It opened doors for big companies," he said, alleging that the BJP government at the centre failed to create job opportunities for the youth.

When asked about data privacy, Gandhi said IT companies have understood that India and China have large data.

"Data should remain with people and not crony capitalists. That is our belief," he said.

Claiming that even though India has medical insurance schemes like Ayushman Bharat, it does not have good hospitals, the Congress chief said, "We cannot run the country without pumping money into public health and education sectors."

He said, "India will surpass China if we have the right government for the next 15-20 years. Respect those who have skills, India will surpass China."

"China has a lead but we have not lost the competition," he said.