Text Size: A- A+ Chandigarh: Ahead of the sixth phase of ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in an exclusive interview with ThePrint. Here are the edited excerpts of 12 comments Gandhi made in the interview. On Congress party’s electoral prospects Looks pretty good. I don’t do numbers, I do feeling. And the feeling is pretty good, you can tell… Here’s an undercurrent of anger (against Narendra Modi) and I think it’s mixed with fear. So, the people are a bit scared of the Prime Minister and of his party president (Amit Shah). So they are not expressing yet openly but there’s an undercurrent. It’s going to be wiped out… There’s not going to be any hung verdict, there’s going to be a one-sided elections. There is a very strong undercurrent against Mr Narendra Modi. Election Commission It’s pressure. It’s Narendra Modi’s imprint. You can see that imprint on Supreme Court, you can see that imprint on the Election Commission, you can see it on the planning commission. You can see it on all institutions of this country. Mr Narendra Modi does not believe in independent institutions. This is the first time in our history that four Supreme Court judge’s have come out and said ‘Hey, listen we are asking for the people of India for justice’. It’s unimaginable. Never happened in our history ever before. That is Mr Narendra Modi’s style. We don’t expect fairness, frankly, from the Election Commission. I’ll be very blunt with you, I don’t like saying it, I’m not happy saying it but as Congress president I’m not expecting fairness from them. I understand that they are under tremendous pressure from Mr Narendra Modi and they are going to act in a slightly biased manner. Also read: EC under ‘tremendous pressure’ from Modi, Congress doesn’t expect fairness: Rahul Gandhi Support to SP-BSP candidates in Uttar Pradesh I’ve told my sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) and I told Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia that where we are winning absolutely fight for the Congress. Where we are not coming first or second, support the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance. Made it very clear. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Hindu terror It’s not even worth commenting on. I mean how do I see the fact that the BJP president was earlier accused of murder. How do I see that? I mean you know, that’s their style, that’s their way of operating… Terror has no religion. There is no religion in the world that says kill people. Congress’ soft Hindutva politics Why is going to a temple called soft Hindutva? Am I not allowed to go to a temple? Am I not allowed to go to a mosque? Am I not allowed to go to a Church? Am I not allowed to go to the Golden temple? Am I not allowed to go to a Gurudwara? I mean why? I love going to these places. I love seeing the spirituality of our country and I love going to places and listening to people who believe in different religions. Why am I not allowed to do it? Is it some rule that only BJP people can go to temples? Who said they are the masters of our religion? Who are they? Who are they? What gives them the right? Everybody has the right. You have the right to go to any religious institution you want. Impact of Balakot Strikes I have done 100-plus meetings. The top-of-the-mind issue by a massive margin is unemployment. It’s massive… People are asking the question if China can produce 550,000 jobs in 24 hours, what is India doing losing 27,000 jobs every 24 hours? Why is India with all its brilliance, all its capability, all its energy sitting with highest unemployment in 45 years? If you listen to the prime minister’s speeches, he’s not talking about unemployment; he’s not talking about his failure. He’s not talking about a plan. Modi’s remark about late Rajiv Gandhi’s holiday on naval warship INS Viraat Mr Narendra Modi is lying. I don’t think I need to respond to that. Mr Modi is trapped. He’s trapped in the web of lies he’s spread and now he’s sinking. I am frankly, as an opposition leader, fighting him and we are going to defeat him. He’s a human being. I am feeling bad for the prime minister. I am feeling bad because the people of India had faith in him. They believed in him. They gave him a massive opportunity. And he dropped the ball. He wasted time in some imaginary world instead of getting down to doing work for the people of India. So as a human being, I feel bad for him. Sam Pitroda’s remarks on 1984 anti-Sikh riots I think that’s completely out of line. He should apologise for this. I think 1984 was a tragedy. It caused tremendous pain to the people. And I think he absolutely owes everybody an apology… Justice has to be done. The people who are responsible have to be brought to book and should be punished. And that story has been carried out. The (former) PM (Manmohan Singh) has apologised. My mother has apologised. We all have made our position very clear on that, that it was tragedy. And what Mr Sam Pitroda has said is absolutely and completely out of line. I haven’t spoken to him but I will. I will personally speak to him and tell him that I don’t appreciate this type of nonsense. Whether he regrets not joining Manmohan Singh government No. I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I am not inexperienced. I don’t think so. I think the UPA II was Manmohan Singh ji, it was the vision of Manmohan Singh ji — UPA I and UPA II — and it would have been out of place for me to be part of that. I always felt that I had told Mr Manmohan Singh ji he’s going to lead the government and I am not going to interfere in any way. And I maintained that.<doc-sep>Rahul Gandhi Interview: He spoke to NDTV's Ravish Kumar about poll issues and PM Modi. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi spoke to NDTV's Ravish Kumar this afternoon and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "personal hatred" against him. On a question if he is ready to become the prime minister of the country, he said: "I will do whatever people across the country want." He also said Congress has held numerous press conferences on Rafale issue to "highlight the corruption". He challenged PM Modi for a debate on issues such as corruption, notes ban, Goods and Services Tax and farmer crisis. The Congress chief also said Sam Pitroda's comment on "1984 tragedy was wrong" and those who "committed the violence should be punished". Here are the highlights of Rahul Gandhi's interview to NDTV:<doc-sep>1) "Mayawati is a national icon. She is with the BSP, but she has sent a message to the country. I respect her, I love her." 2) "He (Modi) has shown how not to run the nation. If you will run the country without listening to anybody, you won't be a good leader. There's no match to PM Modi's communication skills." 3) “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should debate me on issues such as corruption, notes ban, Goods and Services Tax and farmer crisis, given that the PM works very hard and sleeps for only three hours." 4) "Wherever I travel, people are scared everywhere. They say a force is trying to control the country." 5) "We are against the ideology which is spreading hatred in the country...This is the ideology of hatred and we are fighting against it."<doc-sep>Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often described by his party as a workaholic who sleeps for just a few hours, presenting him as a sharp contrast to Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is projected by the BJP as a politician lacking commitment. In an interview, Rahul Gandhi attempted to shake off this perception about a prime minister who hardly sleeps for a few hours and spends most of his time at work. “Who said not sleeping is the measure of working?” Gandhi said. Also Read: Exclusive | ‘Narendra Modi is obsessed with my family’: Rahul Gandhi “How do you define work? Do you define work as coming in front of a camera and waving? I don’t define work like that. An essential part of my work is spending time thinking about, and listening to people’s voices and using those interactions to develop a strategy for the country,” Rahul Gandhi told Hindustan Times. Gandhi also insisted that he spent a lot more time than PM Modi thinking about the country. “I will bet you, whatever you want, that as far as thinking about India is concerned, I’m spending at least 10 times the amount of time, that Mr Narendra Modi is spending,” the Congress president said. PM Modi had also spoken about his sleep pattern during his interview with actor Akshay Kumar also. The prime minister, who had earlier said that he sleeps for just about 3-4 hours every day, told the actor that this was a topic that had come when he met US President Barack Obama in early 2015. When HT pointed out that even Barack Obama was reported to have been amazed by the PM’s ability to work with less sleep, Gandhi said, “Mr Barack Obama was probably having him on! The Americans do psychological profiles of all leaders and they tell you exactly what you want to hear.” “And Mr Narendra Modi bought it hook, line and sinker,” said Gandhi, who has been the target of a campaign that attempts to ridicule him. Like when he put off a press conference by a few hours earlier in March, the BJP took a swipe at him claiming that he must have overslept. This week, BJP president Amit Shah described PM Modi as a leader who has worked for 18 hours daily for the last 18 years and contrasted his 24X7 working style to Rahul Gandhi who he said, dashes off to undisclosed foreign destinations at the slightest discomfort.<doc-sep>
Congress president Rahul Gandhi. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna) Congress president Rahul Gandhi. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday in a tweet took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interviews to several media outlets saying that his recent statement and interviews are giving the country a feeling that he is “cracking under pressure”. The Congress chief further said that the Prime Minister is “however, certainly right to be nervous” about the upcoming Lok Sabha election results. Dear Mr Modi, Your recent statements, interviews & videos are giving India the distinct feeling that you’re cracking under presssure. You are, however, certainly right to be nervous about the results. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 9, 2019 The war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress has turned shriller with Modi raising the issue of alleged corruption during the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister, saying his life had ended as “bhrashtachari no. 1” (corrupt number one). At a rally in Delhi on Wednesday, Modi had said, “INS Viraat was insulted by using it as a personal taxi. This happened when Rajiv Gandhi and his family was out for a 10-day vacation.” Read | Gandhis holidayed on board INS Viraat when Rajiv was PM: Modi Hitting back, the Congress had accused the Prime Minister of spreading lies about its late leader, who was the prime minister over 30 years ago, as he could see his “imminent defeat” in the ongoing polls. Elections 2019 | Polling schedule, results date, constituency-wise election results, key candidates Earlier today, in a poll rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Bina district, Rahul said that the Prime Minister has nothing to say on his government’s performance and hence keeps talking about what happened in the past. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also stepped up her attack on Modi saying she had never seen a ‘more coward’ and ‘weak’ prime minister than him.