PM Modi attacks Rahul over speaking language of 'urban Naxals and declaring war on the Indian State'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for speaking the language of “urban Naxals and declaring war on the Indian State”, while claiming that his government "lives by the spirit of the Constitution".

"These people who speak the language of urban naxals, who declare war against the Indian State, can neither understand the Constitution nor about the country's unity," Modi said, replying to the motion of thanks to the Presidential address.

Modi was referring to Rahul’s recent comments that "we are now fighting the BJP, the RSS, and the Indian State itself".

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the eve of the Delhi Assembly polls, Modi didn't spare the Aam Aadmi Party either, as he accused Arvind Kejriwal of making false promises to the youth.

“Some parties make promises during elections which they don’t fulfill. They have proved to be a disaster (AAP-da),” Modi said.

Modi also accused AAP of denying benefits of Ayushman Bharat, the centrally sponsored healthcare scheme, to the people of Delhi.

But a major part of the Prime Minister’s one-and-a-half-hour speech was a point-by-point rebuttal of Rahul’s criticism of the Modi government, especially the ‘Save Constitution’ theme with a demand for caste census.

Without naming Rahul, Modi said, "Those who walk around with the Constitution in pockets, do they know how they forced Muslim women to live in hardship. We brought in the triple talaq law to give right to them."

In an apparent reference to Congress's first family, Modi asked whether there has ever been an occasion in independent India when three members of a single family from the Schedule Caste or Scheduled tribe community were members of Parliament at a given point in time.

“There is a vast difference between their words and deeds,” Modi said, taking a swipe at the leader of the Opposition who had cited the Telangana caste enumeration to demand a nationwide caste census.

Referring to the controversy over former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s comments on President Murmu, Modi said it showed “continued disregard” for the highest constitutional office.

Highlighting some of the flagship social sector schemes initiated by his government, the PM affirmed that his government "lives by the spirit of the Constitution and does not resort to politics of poison".

On Rahul’s allegation of India having conceded territory to China, Modi advised him to read “JFK’s Forgotten Crisis”, a book by US foreign policy expert Bruce Riedel, that has details of former US president’s meetings with India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“This is only our third innings. We will continue to strive for many years to make India a developed nation,” Modi said.