Attack on opposition 'unfortunate', says Congress

Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are ideological descendents of non-participants of the freedom struggle, the Congress Party on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have talked about unity and integrity of the nation instead of criticising the Grand Old Party, which contribution to the freedom struggle is immense.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "It is unfortunate that the Prime Minister does not have the humility and grace to acknowledge the contribution of those who gave us independence - the Indian National Congress and its leadership, and those who built the country."

"I have never seen him recalling the enormous contributions made by the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He is visiting various parts of the country trying to find icons and to appropriate them, because the BJP and the RSS are ideological descendents of non-participants of the freedom struggle and those, who opposed Gandhi and the freedom movement, particularly the Quit India Movement.

"Let the younger generation be reminder of that. It's unfortunate that he choose this occasion to criticise. This was an occasion to unite, this was an occasion to show humility," Sharma added.

All India Congress Committee general secretary (AICC) Ambika Son said till date, not even a single prime minister spoke like this at the Red Fort; instead, speeches of hope, expectations and desires have been delivered.

"He said many things like crores of rupees have been invested in almost 1,100 projects and have been left incomplete, which is a criminal offence," Soni told ANI.

However, Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said most of information given by Prime Minister Modi in his speech was false.

"Today, after 45 minutes, people started getting up and moving out. Arun Jaitley and Kejriwal were sleeping. I can understand if Kejriwal is sleeping, but if Jaitley was sleeping then it's very big news.

Afzal further said, "From the time Modi has come to power, he promised to give employment to at least two crore youth every year. So, by now 4.5- 4.75 crore youth should have been employed, but he hasn't even reached lakhs, which clearly states that he has nothing for the youth of the country, except lengthy speeches.