Rahul Gandhi told NDTV's Ravish Kumar that the BJP and the RSS were "spreading hatred"
Highlights
- "I learn from everyone, from Narendra Modi, BJP and RSS," he told NDTV
- Hit out at PM over his understanding of responsibilities
- "Thinks giving speeches and comments are the PM's job," he added
Rahul Gandhi today delivered his critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's performance with a jibe on what he had learnt from him. "Narendra Modi-ji has shown me how not to run a country," the Congress president told NDTV's Ravish Kumar in an interview.
"If you run the country without listening to what its people have to say, then the country will not function properly," Mr Gandhi said in an interview after a rally in Madhya Pradesh.
"I learn from Narendra Modi-ji, from the BJP and the RSS. I also learn from you. I learn from everyone," he said.
Targeting the PM over his criticism of Manmohan Singh, who led a Congress government for 10 years until being voted out of power in 2014, Mr Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi thinks giving speeches and comments are the PM's job. But PM's job is to think with strategy. He has no strategy in his work. Manmohan Singh improved the country's economy carefully, strategically. What Manmohan Singh did in the 90s is a part of strategy and a better thinking."
Mr Gandhi also claimed he wanted to "destroy his Rahul Gandhi self" so that when he visited a farmer's house, he could learn and fully understand his point of view, rather than have his own voice interfere.
PM Modi and Mr Gandhi have regularly traded barbs this election, with the Prime Minister targeting his father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, as "Bhrashtachari No. 1 (Corrupt No. 1)" and the Congress chief hammering away at the BJP government with claims of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Mr Gandhi took aim at the Prime Minister over a number of issues - from the Rafale deal to allegations of EVM malfunctioning in this general election - ultimately returning to the theme that the BJP government under PM Modi had failed to deliver on promises made during the 2014 Lok Sabha election concerning areas like healthcare, education.
He said, "We need to provide high quality educational institutions and improve existing institutions in the field of healthcare and education. We will give 22 lakh government jobs to the people within one year and we will do this recruitment transparently".
The Congress leader also attacked the ideology of the BJP-RSS combine, characterising it as "spreading hatred" in the country. He said, "Now the people will decide on May 23. I will follow what the people say."