Rahul Gandhi wishes 'suit-boot ki sarkar' happy birthday, says 'stop oratory and start action'

Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a fashion icon and said that the 'suit-boot ki sarkar' should stop the oratory and start action, for the nation would not accept them in the present form after five years.

"People wink at me, shake my hand and say that they were looking for a word to define the [current] government and tell me that I defined it perfectly in the Parliament. This government is a 'suit boot ki sarkar'... Prime Minister Modi has been called a fashion icon, which is a good thing. But what people don't like is that he wore a suit worth Rs 10 lakh. People genuinely felt uncomfortable: that here is a country where people are working day in and day out and the Prime Minister wears such a suit. No Prime Minister has ever done this. It shows the insensitivity towards the people of this nation who struggle to put food on table each day," Gandhi said, while addressing a rally here.

"Happy birthday, suit-boot ki sarkar. On this occasion, I want to give them advice: if they carry on like this, the poor man will not let them have five birthday parties. So please, stop the oratory and start the action," he added.

The Congress vice president further alleged that Prime Minister Modi's policies were for the benefit of his 'industrialist friends'.

"The Land Bill which we brought for the benefit of the farmer is being destroyed. For some reason, the BJP government wants to pass the [current] Land Bill in a hurry, calling for labourers to give up their land in exchange for jobs. The largest corruption that takes place in a nation is when land is taken away from poor people without any recourse," he said.

"Narendra Modi ji won the election because of his industrialist friends, so obviously he cannot hurt their interests," he added.

The NDA government had taken charge at the Centre on May 26 last year.