Narendra Modi has lost it, tech advances came during Rajiv era: Pitroda

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has crossed all levels of decency by insulting the late Rajiv Gandhi, said Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda on Monday. He added that the PM was "shaken up" by the negative prediction of results for the BJP in the first four phases of the Lok Sabha elections.

"The allegations made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against former PM Rajiv Gandhi convince me that Mr Modi has lost it. I want to remind people that all technological advances came during the Rajiv Gandhi era. I am convinced that he is all shaken up from the results of the first four phases of the elections," Pitroda said at a press conference here.

He was joined by Congress leader and Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu at the press briefing.

Pitroda stated that none of the promises made by the Modi government in 2014 were fulfilled in the past five years. The unfulfilled promises forced PM Modi to resort to hiring trolls and levying accusations against former leaders which does not behove a Prime Minister.

"He promised 100 million jobs, none were created. Neither were smart cities created nor the farmers' income was doubled. Debt has increased by more than 50 percent, PSUs are running into losses and foreign exchange has hit a new low. When we talk about it the trolls employed by BJP come out to fight us. I am ashamed that a Prime Minister from Mahatma Gandhi's soil would go down to this level," he said.

Pitroda termed the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), which is India's first operational smart city, a complete failure and said that it was proof of BJP not being able to deliver on its promise.

"GIFT, one project which he called the flagship programme of Gujarat, is now bankrupt. Only two buildings exist in a place where 12 years ago 300 acres of land was taken from farmers. It was started with a partnership with IL & FS, no big company has come, no foreign investment has come. It is now bankrupt, but nobody talks about it," Pitroda said.

Polling is underway for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in seven states for 51 parliamentary seats. The counting of votes will begin on May 23.