Thiruvananthapuram: Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he was facing a “crisis of credibility” and had stopped talking about corruption.
Gandhi, who was on his first visit to Kerala after being elected as the Congress president, was also unsparing of BJP chief Amit Shah.
At a meeting of party workers, he asked the ruling CPI(M) to make its stand clear on its fight against the BJP and “fascist forces” in the country.
The Congress leader, who was on a day’s visit here, alleged that the prime minister had “unilaterally” cancelled the Rafale fighter jet deal with France that was decided during the UPA government.
“India is no longer going to buy 136 fighter planes and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will no longer be the contractor. But the contractor now is going to be a businessman close to the prime minister,” Gandhi alleged.
Claiming that Modi had stopped mentioning the word “corruption” now, Gandhi said, “The Congress had showed the country what BJP chief Amit Shah’s son had done.”
He attacked the Modi government over demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) and said the country’s economy was badly hit by the two decisions.
Gandhi, who arrived here after a hectic electioneering in Gujarat, said his party had fought an “extremely aggressive election” in the state.
“At every level, the prime minister tried to distract the people of Gujarat,” he alleged.
“Three years after he came to power, the prime minister is facing a crisis of credibility. People listen to his speeches, but no longer believe in what he says,” he said.
He also said that the prime minister had failed to live up to his promise to create two crore jobs every year.
Attacking the CPI(M), Gandhi said, “I want to ask my friends in the CPI(M) whether they actually want to fight the fascist forces in the country.”
“It is very important that they make their position clear at the national level because not standing against the BJP means supporting the saffron party,” he said.
PTI