PM Modi counters Rahul Gandhi's charges; says will not tolerate insult to the armed forces

Hours after Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s scathing attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a counteroffensive during a debate on the no-confidence motion against his government.

In a no-holds-barred attack, Modi rebutted Gandhi’s allegations point by point.

In response to the Gandhi’s “jumla strike” jibe, Modi was quick to link it to the nationalism and said, “You called the surgical strike a Jumla Strike. You can abuse me as much as you want. Stop insulting the Jawans of India. I will not tolerate this insult to our armed forces”.

Urging the Lok Sabha speaker to reject the Opposition-backed no-confidence motion, the prime minister said, “This is not a floor test of the Government, this is a forced test of Congress’s so called allies”.

Modi also took potshots on the Congress president’s “earthquake” remark during the Karnataka election campaign and said, “If you were not prepared for the debate why did you bring the motion? Why such a tearing rush to bring down the government? Would the sky have fallen or a bhukamp (earthquake) come.”

In his return fire, Modi slammed the Congress president for his remarks on Doklam issue and said that they (Congress) should not be speaking about the subject they do not understand, adding everything does not merit a childish conduct.

The prime minister said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee created 3 states- Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and added these states were prospering.

“The Congress divided Andhra Pradesh and their conduct then was shameful,” Modi said.

He assured assistance for the development of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Earlier in the day, the Congress president had accused Modi government of working for select businessmen and ignoring the poor and marginalised section of the country.

The Gandhi scion, after his feirce attack, took the prime minister by surprise with an unexpected hug.

Former NDA ally and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had moved a motion of no-confidence against the ruling government. The BJP, however, won the trust vote with ease and got 325 votes against Opposition’s 126 votes.