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Modi should deliver instead of making excuses: Rahul Gandhi in Amethi

The Congress vice president was having an informal chat with newspersons in Tiloi on the second day of his three-day visit to his constituency.

Updated on: Oct 5, 2017, 22:16:30 IST
Hidustan Times, Amethi (UP) | By
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Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop making excuses and deliver on his promises, a day after Modi complained about “pessimism” spread by “some people” in the country.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi meeting people during the second day of his visit to Amethi on Thursday. (PTI Photo)
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi meeting people during the second day of his visit to Amethi on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

Gandhi said the PM should show magnanimity in admitting that he had not been able to deliver on his promises made before the 2014 polls.

“Instead of talking about people creating an atmosphere of pessimism, the PM should admit that he has not been able to deliver in the last three years and say he would fulfill promises in the next one-and-a-half years,” Gandhi told reporters in Amethi, his constituency on the second day of his three-day tour.

Speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of ICSI on Wednesday, Modi had said that the slowdown in GDP in one quarter had become “a big news”. “Some people take pleasure in spreading pessimism. They get a good sleep out of it.”

In response, Gandhi said shortage of jobs was a serious problem in India and cited statistics to show India was creating lesser jobs per day (450) than China (50,000).

“They (Modi government) are not able to provide jobs… This is a major problem. This is a crisis. Narendra Modi should accept there is a crisis and work to resolve it instead of panicking and making excuses. Time for making excuses is over now,” he said.

The opposition leader advised the PM to focus on two issues — creation of jobs and resolving the crisis in agriculture sector.

With BJP president Amit Shah and Union ministers planning to visit Amethi on October 10, Gandhi used the occasion to list 12 major projects, including the under-construction 200-bed hospital at Ludhauria village, and said BJP leaders were trying to take credit and re-inaugurate Congress’s projects.

Interacting with party workers in Tiloi assembly segment of Rae Bareli later in the day, Gandhi targeted the PM for his “56-inch chest” remark ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said Manmohan Singh delivered more as PM though he did not have a “56-inch chest”.

Gandhi highlighted MGNREGA and other schemes launched by the UPA government as achievements of the Manmohan Singh government. He targeted Modi for launching bullet train project by taking loan from Japan and said the amount could have been used to revamp the railways.

Earlier, Gandhi sat on the ground and interacted with the women of self-help groups (SHGs) at Banjaria village.

  • Umesh Raghuvanshi
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Umesh Raghuvanshi

    Umesh Raghuvanshi is an award-winning journalist with nearly four decades of demonstrated experience in the profession. He is the author of Ayodhya: The Gods Are Liberated. He is skilled in storytelling and newswriting, and writes on politics, governance, legislature, finance, environment, and social issues. He is based in Lucknow, is well-travelled, and has covered several national and international events, as well as all assembly and parliament elections in Uttar Pradesh since 1984. He has been a visiting scholar at the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, USA, and a Metcalf Fellow at the Metcalf Institute of Marine and Environmental Reporting, University of Rhode Island, USA. He is a science graduate from DBS College, Dehradun, and holds an MA in Political Science from DAV (PG) College, Dehradun. He won the KC Kulish International Merit Award for excellence in journalism (2015) and received it in New Delhi in 2017. He also won a competition organised by the United Nations Environment Programme DTIE OzonAction Programme in 2009 that assessed coverage of the interlinkages between ozone and climate change. He was awarded in Beijing, China, in 2010. He started his career with a Dehradun-based English daily in the early 1980s and later worked with The Pioneer too.Read More