When will Modi break silence on Rafale deal: Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his long speech in the Lok Sabha and wondered when he will break his silence on the Rafale deal, and also took a poetic jibe at him.

"The speech of Saheb was very long. In the House he termed day as night. He hid his failures. It was saddening that the real issues of the country were missing in his speech. When will the Prime Minister break his silence, and when will he finally speak on the Rafale deal?" Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

Gandhi was referring to the over one-hour long speech of Modi in Lok Sabha in which he fiercely attacked the Congress, during his reply on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Speech.

Earlier, the Gandhi scion speaking to media outside Parliament said the Prime Minister should answer the nation on the Rafale deal, farmers issues and on employment generation, instead of questioning the opposition Congress.

Gandhi said that he can understand that before 2014 Modi was blaming the Congress for everything, but even after being in power for four years he was still questioning the opposition instead of giving answers to the people from the floor of the House.

"I can understand that before 2014, the Prime Minister was talking about the 70 years of Congress rule. But today, the BJP is in government, Modi is the Prime Minister not opposition," the Congress President said.

"He can talk about this in a public meeting, but in Parliament, you have to answer to the country," he said.

Gandhi raised questions on the details of the Rafale fighter jet deal, alleging corruption, on the farmers' issues and employment generation in the country.

"There is corruption in the Rafale deal, Prime Minister should answer on that," he said.

The Prime Minister, in his more than one and a half hour long speech, questioned the previous Congress-led government and blamed them for "hastily" bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.

Government ally Telugu Desam Party was staging a protest in the House as the Prime Minister came to reply. The TDP members later returned to their seats, but Congress MPs continued to protest.

Modi also blamed the former governments under the Congress for not doing enough for the progress of the country, and said India is lagging behind because of them.

--IANS

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