Ahmedabad: Asserting that an “economic storm” is coming, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the imposition of tariffs by the US and questioned his silence on the issue.
Addressing the AICC session on the banks of the Sabarmati river, Gandhi recalled that when Modi went to the US earlier, he had hugged American President Donald Trump.
“This time did you see their photograph hugging each other? Where has it vanished? President Trump, whom Prime Minister Modi calls a friend, ordered him that listen ‘we will not hug each other, this time we will impose tarrifs’. He (Modi) could not utter a word. He has disappeared,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
So that people’s attention is not turned towards the tariff issue, they ran a drama in Parliament for two days, Gandhi said in an apparent reference to the late night sittings in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
“But the truth is an economic storm is going to come. When Covid came, PM Modi asked people to bang utensils, switch on the flashlight of mobile phones. Now an economic storm is coming and crores will suffer losses, where is he, where is he hiding,” Gandhi asked during his address at the session. Referring to Modi’s recent meeting with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, Gandhi said the Bangladeshi leader made adverse comments earlier and then Modi was seen sitting with him. “He was mum, did not speak a word. Where is the 56-inch chest?” the Congress leader said, taking a swipe at Modi.
Gandhi also recalled that when his grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi was asked whether she leans left or right, she stated that she is the prime minister of India and stands straight.
Gandhi claimed the current prime minister just bows before other foreign leaders.
In the resolution adopted at the AICC session, the Congress said its successive governments enhanced India’s global stature and demonstrated leadership on the world stage through a principled and visionary foreign policy.