Union minister condemns Rahul Gandhi's remarks on PM's advice

Rahul Gandhi's remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advice to bureaucrats not to use social media for self-promotion, was flayedby Union minister Nirmala Seetharaman on Monday saying it showed his lack of experience.

Speaking to reporters here, she said the prime minister has been an 'absolutely motivational force for all of us."

Not just ministers, but also the bureaucrats have been extremely inspired by the way he consults them and takes their views, said the commerce and industry minister.

"The prime minister also sent many of them to the places of their first posting so that they can see what differences are happening and what can be done further with their help."

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"So for a prime minister who is motivating officials and ensuring bureaucracy works together... To oppose and criticise that just shows lack of experience in Rahul Gandhi", she said.

Gandhi had taken a dig at Modi, saying he was not in a position to lead by example on his counsel against self-promotion.

"Leading by example is clearly overrated", Gandhi had tweeted after Modi told bureaucrats not to use social media for self-promotion or spend too much time online.

The prime minister actively uses the social media to connect with the public and is the most followed leader on Twitter and Instagram in the country.

He has 29.3 million followers on Twitter and has emerged as the the most followed world leader on photo-sharing app Instagram with 6.9 million followers, surpassing US President Donald Trump.

Seetharaman denied DMK working president M K Stalin's charge that the Union government was imposing Hindi on the people, saying there was no attempt by the Centre to do so.

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"I would clearly state here that there is no attempt to impose Hindi, especially when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' scheme that bridges the cultural gap in the country and improves interaction among the states", she said.

The minister said the idea of 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' is that each year one state will connect to any one state in India.

"Suppose Karnataka as a state decides to have an agreement with Bihar, then Kannada will be promoted in Bihar and vice versa. The idea is to connect one state to another", she said.

Seetharaman requested Stalin not to 'distort' facts, especially as he belongs to a big political party and hails from a family with a political background.