PM quiet on jobs, agri crisis; politicising Army: Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday sought to shift the focus of the election narrative from national security to issues such as unemployment, agrarian crisis and economic slowdown.

Addressing press conference here, Rahul hit out at the Prime Minister for his “silence” on issues such as unemployment agrarian distress.

“Over half of the election is over and it is clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is losing. Issues like unemployment have not been addressed. Modi does not talk about these issues as he has nothing left to say. There is never a plan to tackle these issues,” the Congress President said.

Rahul accused the Prime Minister of politicising the Army by raising issues such as surgical strikes in the election campaign.

“The Army has not started working now on national security, it has been working for the last 70 years. What is Narendra Modi in all this,” he asked.

The Congress President said Modi should not treat the Army as its personal property.

“He should not politicise the army. He cannot insult army jawans. Insulting the army is insulting the nation,” Rahul said.

The Congress President described the BJP’s election campaign as “panicky”.

“I see a scared Prime Minister unable to face the onslaught of the opposition,” Rahul said.

He also challenged Modi for a debate saying he was ready at a place of the prime minister’s choice.

“I told him, let us debate. Let us debate on jobs, corruption. Give me 10 minutes, wherever you want, but not at Anil Ambani’s house,” Rahul said.