RANCHI:
Congress leader
Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s recent comments about late PM
Rajiv Gandhi reflected his “poor standard”. The former Union minister, who was on his way back to New Delhi after addressing an election rally in Godda, interacted with the media briefly at the party’s state headquarters in Ranchi.
“It is very unfortunate. Manna padega,
standard
bahut kharab hai apka mananiya Pradhan Mantri Ji (We have to admit that your standard is very poor honorable PM),” Azad said. Azad, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, criticized Modi for calling Gandhi corrupt and said he must not forget that the latter was killed for trying to counter insurgency in southern India.
BJP’s national president Amit Shah, in two separate rallies in Jamshedpur and Dhanbad on Wednesday, focused on Balakot air strikes to garner support for BJP candidates. Hours later, Azad hit back at the BJP for questioning former PM Manmohan Singh’s recent statement, where he claimed that Indian forces carried out six surgical strikes during his 10-year tenure as PM.
The veteran leader drew parallel to the BJP and claimed it believed the government on its announcement of recent airstrikes despite there being many grey areas.
“They say however questioning the armed forces is anti-national. We agree to it. Though we had a lot of questions, all the opposition parties decided to not question the attacks as we did not want Pakistan to take advantage of it. On the other hand, the BJP questioned Manmohan Singh’s revelations on surgical strikes carried out in his tenure, which is contradictory,” Azad said.
With two phases of elections remaining nationwide, Azad claimed his assessment showed a non-NDA government coming to power. “I have toured 11 states extensively and attended 200 rallies. The signal is clear, that Modi is not returning to power. A non-NDA government will be formed,” he added. The veteran however dropped hints that Congress will be open for a post-poll alliance with parties which are on the secular front.