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PM Modi’s remark on Swamy is just advisory, not action: Congress
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interview to a television channel was disappointing and he appeared “defensive not decisive”, the Congress said on Tuesday, suggesting an open press conference was a better idea.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interview to a television channel was disappointing and he appeared “defensive not decisive”, the Congress said on Tuesday, suggesting an open press conference was a better idea.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad dismissed suggestions that the PM rebuked BJP parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy for his attacks on RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and other top officials.
“Whatever the PM said is at best an advisory and not an action. An action means dismissal, expulsion, suspension,” Azad said.
Read: PM Modi snubs Swamy over fondness for publicity, calls Rajan patriot
The opposition party said the PM appeared defensive for the first time since he came to power in 2014. “The lion that used to roar in 2013 and 2014 has suddenly become weak. We saw him as an old lion,” Azad said.
“It is sad. We want our PM to take action, be decisive and look like a lion not only abroad but within the country as well.”
Azad, who is also the Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, took a dig at the PM for not addressing a press conference in the past two years.
“We would have been happier if the PM held a press conference. Then all journalists could have asked him questions,” he said. “But that did not happen and I don’t think that will happen.”
Read: ‘China going against us, Pak attacks rising’: Cong slams Modi’s foreign policy
The Congress leader wondered how the PM – who blamed media for turning hardliners into heroes -- wasn’t aware of people making controversial statements.
“Does Modi ji not know his minister Mahesh Sharma or MP Sakshi Maharaj? Does the PM not know his own MPs and ministers?”
The opposition party rubbished Modi’s foreign policy claims in the interview, saying India’s ties with China worsened and infiltration and terror attacks from Pakistan have.
“There is no doubt the PM has been active on foreign policy. He has been travelling a lot. But what has been the result of these travels?”
