NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding his “first press conference” since coming to power in 2014, and sarcastically said it was “unprecedented” but raised questions on the format of the media exchange.
Congress President took swipe at Prime Minister for not answering a single question during his first press conference on the completion of five years in office. The Congress president also reiterated his debate challenge to the PM as he asked why the latter has not done a faceoff with him on the alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal.
“Congratulations Modiji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle. Next time (BJP President Amit) Shah may even allow you to answer a couple of questions. Well done!” Gandhi tweeted.
Congratulations Modi Ji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle. Next time Mr Shah may even allow you to answer a couple of questions. Well done! đź‘Ť
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2019
The Congress leaders remarks came soon after Modi, while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters along with Shah, refused to take questions during his first press conference as the prime minister.
Earlier in the day, as the campaigning ended for the last round of voting for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections due on Sunday, Modi made a statement at the party headquarters here, but then passed the media questions to Shah, who was sitting next to him.
Gandhi, during his press conference also complained to the media persons for asking him tough questions while being soft to the Prime Minister.
Mocking at Modi, Gandhi said, “Modiji has told the country how he eats a mango, how I dress and how i cut my kurta.”
“But I have a complain with the media. You ask me tough questions like how the money will come for our NYAY scheme. But you ask Modiji questions like how you eat mango and how you dress,” he said.
“Fantastic, Prime Minister of India is fantastic,” he said referring to Modi’s interview questioning ‘cloud cover’ theory on the Balakot air strike.
*Campaigning for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections has officially ended. Voting will take place on May 19.
*Some of the question taken up by Rahul at the media conference is here:
*You always challenged Modi to hold a press conference. Today he is addressing a press conference. What will you say now?
*The PM has said he won’t be able to forgive Pragya, what do you have to say about that?
*Have you started consulting other Opposition parties for government formation?
*Is the Congress ready to forgo the PM’s post?
*How do you see the role of the EC in this election?
Modi said during a TV interview that “Rahul can abuse my parents if he has anything against them. They were not in politics.” What would you say about them? (On a day of firsts for Modi, he referred to the Congress president by his name, referring to him as “Shriman Rahul Gandhi” and “Shriman Rahulji”.)
How many seats are you winning? Amit Shah said the BJP would cross 300.
Mayawati-Akhilesh did not ally with you before the elections. Are you confident they will join hands with you after the elections?
Here is the video of Congress President press conference:
With inputs from IANS