PM Modi's speech in Rajya Sabha 'full of lies, half-truths': Congress

New Delhi, PTI: The Congress on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his speech in the Rajya Sabha, saying he kept the "river of lies" flowing and "twisted" history but did not speak on the real issues of the people. The opposition party also claimed that the prime minister's speech was "full of lies and half-truths". Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of practising appeasement politics to get votes and asserted that the BJP-led Union government was working on the principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'. The PM said the Congress' priority was "family first" and its policies had been focused around it.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The prime minister's capacity to divert, distort and defame is truly staggering. His 90-minute speech today in the Rajya Sabha was full of lies and half-truths." "His pathological obsession with Jawaharlal Nehru was on full display. It was a pathetic performance unworthy of the office he holds," the veteran Congress leader added. Earlier, asked about the prime minister's address, Ramesh said Modi "kept the river of lies flowing" during his speech. "He only has two weapons 'Pradhan Mantri Congress Badnam Yojana' and 'PM Itihaas Tod-Marodh Yojana'. He targeted Nehru and the Congress and presented a new history before the House. It was all lies," he said.

He did not say anything on real issues of unemployment, economic inequality, polarisation, inflation and deteriorating ties with the US. He only targeted the Cong, the former minister added. "If he (Modi) would have said something proper, we could have debated it But when he just spoke lies and gave a new shape to history, what can one say to that? We respect the post of prime minister but a person who cannot speak the truth even by mistake, how can we respect him?" Ramesh told PTI Videos outside Parliament. The PM also accused the Congress of being against the Constitution's chief architect BR Ambedkar.

India stuck in outdated economic thinking: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the world is shifting to a new energy system, where electric motors, batteries, and optics will be the most crucial technologies, yet India "remains stuck in outdated economic thinking, controlled by monopolies like Reliance and Adani".

The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said when power is no longer concentrated in a few hands, whether in business or government, it transforms everything. Gandhi made the remarks in a post accompanying a video on his YouTube channel on his recent interaction with students from Nagaland. "Spoke with students from Nagaland recently and realized how little we are taught about their culture - that's not education, that's erasure."