The Congress expressed its disappointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on Tuesday, where he announced an extension to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for free distribution of food grains to the poor till the end of November this year. Congress questioned why the PM didn’t address the issue of Chinese incursions.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi used a urdu poetry to criticise the PM's speech."Don't beat about the bush, tell us who snatched our land. We have no grudge against those who stole what is ours, but we have questions about your leadership," Rahul tweeted soon after Modi's speech.
The Congress criticised the PM's speech and said: "We need to move beyond the symbolic gesture of banning 59 Chinese apps; we are importing more from China. Is this our response to 20 bravehearts losing their lives? We need more decisive decisions and real steps".
The party alleged that the PM was as usual in election mode keeping an eye on Bihar assembly elections due around Diwali and Chhath this year.
“Forget condemning China, the PM is too afraid to even talk about it in his national address,” a tweet on the Congress's official handle said, a few minutes after the prime minister’s address finished.
“Another national address that could have been a Government notification,” the party said in another tweet preceding the one related to the Chinese incursion question.
The Congress has been demanding that the Prime Minister clarifies on his earlier remark on China made during the all party meet. The party has attacked the Prime Minister ever since alleging that he had denied the incidents of Chinese intrusion across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in contradiction with his own government’s official statements confirming the occupation of Indian territory by the Chinese army.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi asked the Prime Minister to explain how he proposes to drive Chinese troops out of Ladakh.
“The whole country knows that China has snatched India’s land. We all know the Chinese are at four places in Ladakh. Please tell the country how you will evict the Chinese troops and when?” he asked in a video address barely an hour before the Prime Minister’s address to the nation.
He also took a swipe at the BJP over the rising imports from China to allege that the ‘Make in India’ was not effective.