Only BJP-vetted queries, answers superb idea: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘ignoring’ a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker’s question on the struggle of the middle class with the taxation policy, saying forget a press meet, the PM could not even hold a poll booth workers’ conference. Mr. Gandhi tweeted: “Vanakam Puducherry!

“That’s NaMo’s answer to the struggling middle class. Forget a press conference, he can’t even string together a polling booth worker’s conference,” the Congress leader said.

The Congress chief cited a media report that claimed Mr. Modi faced embarrassing moments during his interaction with BJP workers from Tamil Nadu when a worker sought to know why his administration was busy collecting taxes from the middle class but not interested in taking care of them. The report claimed that the Prime Minister chose not to answer the question raised by the worker during his video interaction and continued by switching to Puducherry and said ‘Vanakkam Puducherry’.

On reports that the BJP will filter questions from workers to Prime Minister Modi following the incident, Mr. Gandhi said, “BJP-vetted questions is a superb idea. Consider vetted answers as well.” The Congress president has been criticizing Mr. Modi for not holding a press conference during his tenure. Earlier this month, Mr. Gandhi had posted pictures from a press conference he held and tweeted saying the prime minister should try one someday as it is fun to be asked questions.

Last week, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh attacked Mr. Narendra Modi over his alleged silence on contentious issues.