PMO should be called 'Publicity Minister's Office', says Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has converted the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) into the "Publicity Minister's Office".

Rahul, who interacted with students and addressed a rally here, also raked up the issue of Modi's education, saying there is no evidence that he went to a university.

Rahul said the Prime Minister has been taking ad hoc decisions and cited demonetisation as an example in this regard.

"The Prime Minister bypassed the RBI and carried out demonetisation. These are just ad-hoc decisions he takes," he said.

"Instead of calling it the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), it should be called the Publicity Minister's Office. Basically, that is all he (PM) is interested in," the Congress chief said.

Continuing his tirade against Modi, Rahul said no one actually knows whether the Prime Minister went to a university or not.

"We still don't have access to the Prime Minister's university degree. Nobody actually knows whether the Prime Minister went to a university or not. A Right to Information (RTI) application was filed in Delhi asking for the Prime Minister's university degree but it has not been responded to," the Congress leader claimed during the interaction with students.

While addressing a public rally, Rahul said the Congress will not allow the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to be passed in Parliament.

"I am committing to you here that the Congress will defend your culture and history. We are not going to allow the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to be passed," he said about the proposed legislation which has triggered a lot of concerns in the North East.

The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8 but it could not go through the Rajya Sabha because of strong protests by Opposition parties. It has since lapsed.

The bill provides for making persecuted migrants of minority communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan eligible for Indian citizenship.

However, citizenship will be given to them only after due scrutiny and recommendation of district authorities and the state government.

Several organisations have staged massive protests over the Bill, asserting that the legislation will create law and order problems in the North East.