After PM's interview, Congress fires 10 "Unanswered Questions"

New Delhi, Jan 2: Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interview on New Year's day to news agency ANI, the Congress on Tuesday asserted that the countdown for his exit has begun.

"The whole summary of PM Modi's interview was - 'I', 'me', 'mine', and 'myself'," said the Congress' Randeep Singh Surjewala at a Press conference, asserting that the PM should instead have detailed progress on "10 promises that he made," including the one to deposit Rs 15 lakh in every bank account and bringing back black money from abroad.

Surjewala described the PM's interview to news agency ANI as a "monologue."

"The people are with the opposition and the 'gathbandhan of thugs' should start its countdown as only 99 days are left," he said on the prime minister's claim that the 2019 elections are going to be a fight between the people and the 'mahagathbandhan'.

"The monologue interview of Modi ji turned out to be much ado about nothing. It was about I, me, mine, myself...Modiji, your 'I's and lies' have destroyed the social fabric and the economy of the country, trampling upon Constitutional institutions as also rights of individuals," Surjewala said at a press conference.

Modi on Tuesday talked about a host of issues, including the surgical strikes, the Ram temple's construction and personal attacks on him by the Congress.

Modi also accused the Congress leadership of politicising and delaying the legal process in clearance of the Ram temple's construction.

"Your demonetisation helped those with black money by letting them convert it to white. It was a 3.5 lakh crore blow for the economy, looted years of savings from lakhs of women and caused the deaths of 120 people who stood in bank queues. Who will account for it?" he said.

"In Jammu and Kashmir, 428 jawans have died and 278 civilians have died in the last 55 months. 248 jawans and 378 people killed in Maoist attacks. Why did you imperil national security?" he added.

"Is it not true that corruption today has scaled new heights? From the everyday life of the common man to the Rs. 30,000 crore Rafale scam. And if nothing is wrong then why are you dodging a joint parliamentary committee probe?"

On Prime Minister Modi's surgical strikes remarks, Surjewala said the BJP accused the Congress of doing politics over surgical strikes, but both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had praised the armed forces for it.

But the BJP discredited the surgical strikes of ther past and "politicised" the bravery of the army, he alleged.

Surjewala said, "Bereft of ground reality, 'jumlas' (rhetoric) galore, Modiji's interview looks like a parody."

The Congress leader said that "with defeat writ large on the face as also in the arrogant words of 'I, Me, Mine, Myself', the first interview of Modi has put the entire future in perspective that now there are 99 days left for Modi ji for people to say 'bye, bye' to him".

He said the prime minister had become so helpless that he was not even making it clear from where he will contest the Lok Sabha polls and whether at all he will contest.

"This shows a defeatist prime minister," he said.

With PTI inputs