Stop making excuses, start running the country: Rahul to Modi

“The job of the prime minister is not to make excuses,” and he should start running the country, a combative Rahul Gandhi asserted on Friday hitting back at Narendra Modi for targeting the Gandhi family.

The Congress vice president’s remarks came ahead of the budget session of Parliament beginning February 23, signalling that that the main opposition will confront the National Democratic Alliance dispensation on several issues.

“The job of the prime minister is to run government, job of the PM is not to make excuses”, Gandhi told reporters while taking on Modi who had earlier in Assam accused the first family of the Congress for disruption in Parliament.

Taking a swipe at Modi, Gandhi remarked, “All the PM has been doing for the last 18 months is to make excuses as to why the economy is not running, why the farmers are not getting their due, why the labourers are not getting what they should get”.

The Congress vice president’s remarks came when his reaction was sought over Modi pinning the blame on the Gandhi family for Parliament not functioning and the charge that they are taking revenge for their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

“India did not choose Narendra Modi to make excuses. India chose a leader and the leader should not make excuses, the leader should do the job that he has been elected to do,” he said.

He regretted that perhaps Modi is still not aware that the job of the PM is to run the country and not to make excuses and that “he should start running the country”.

Noting that for some time Congress has been talking about how the Modi government does not work for the poor, workers and the farmers, Gandhi said, it is “puzzling that even industrialists are crying before us”.  

“Big industrialists are coming to us and telling that Modiji may be running the government for us, but he is not able to do our work. So Modiji will certainly give excuses”, he said.

He said this government “acts only in the interest of three or four of their crony capitalist friends”.

He said the Congress will put pressure on the government so that “they pay attention to the pain of farmer in India today, the pain of the workers and labourers in this country today”.