A day after Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hit back saying that the Prime Minister had nothing to talk about.
This comment from the Congress vice-president came while he was in Bengaluru for the inauguration of Indira Canteen.
During the public meeting, Rahul said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had gone to attend Modi's speech at Red Fort on August 15 and claimed that Modi reduced the duration of his speech as "he has nothing to talk about."
Rahul said that Modi had missed various important points from his speech. Modi's duration of speech had cut down to 54 minutes in 2017 from 97 minutes in 2016.
Gorakhpur tragedy
"The PM did not tell you that more than 90 babies have died in Gorakhpur due to his healthcare policies. His government has cut health care budget, and the hospital could not buy the oxygen cylinders for the babies," Rahul was quoted as saying by India Today.
On the contrary, PM Modi did mention the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy in his speech. He said, "In the last few days, some of our innocent children died in a hospital. All the countrymen stand together at this time."
On Unemployment
Next issue on Rahul's list was the rate of unemployment being the highest in the past eight years despite PM Modi promising two crore jobs yearly.
In his speech, Modi did mention about the schemes that the government had launched to generate employment. He spoke about offering collateral-free loans to small entrepreneurs.
But real numbers speak otherwise. The unemployment had actually gone up -- in 2015-16 to 5 percent up from 4.9 percent in 2013-14, the year before the BJP came to power, according to a Firstpost report.
The Kashmir issue
Rahul further held Modi liable for destroying the peace in Jammu and Kashmir, for which Congress had worked for almost 10 years.
Modi, during his speech, reiterated that Kashmir issue can only be solved by peaceful means and further added that Kashmir's development was possible only if the people and the government there commit themselves to solve the issue.
Relationship with neighbours
During his address, Rahul blamed Modi for creating problems with friendly nations. All the neighbours except Pakistan and China were India's allies.
