Wrapping up his party's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday asserted that he was proud and happy that his party had effectively played the role of an opposition, cornering Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dismantling the false image that he had come with in 2014.
"We fought a good election. We had to play the role of the opposition. We did not have a big number in the Lok Sabha. But we were A grade as an opposition. We cornered Narendra Modi. And we dismantled the idea of what he stood for in 2014," Gandhi said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters.
He said the Congress effectively raised issues during the election campaign. "Narendra Modi and the BJP had more money than us. They had unlimited money. They had marketing, TV. We only had the truth on our side," he said.
The Congress president said his party had raised the issues of unemployment, farmers' condition, corruption in Rafale, demonetisation, GST and the downturn in the economy during the polls. He said Modi, on the other hand, did not pay any attention to these issues.
"We have gone from state to state, shutting doors for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am proud to say that we closed 90 per cent of the doors. And he closed the remaining ten per cent by being abusive towards his own allies and people like Chandrababu Naidu," Gandhi said.
Asked about the prime minister holding a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Gandhi took a jibe at him, saying, "Very impressive. He holds his first press conference four to five days before the election results. I have heard the prime minister is accompanying Amit Shah in a press briefing. This is an unprecedented event."
Taking a dig at Modi, he said since the prime minister was addressing a press conference, he would like to pose a question about the Rafale deal and ask him why he gave Rs 30,000 crore that belonged to the Air Force to Anil Ambani. "I had challenged him to a debate on Rafale. So why not answer the questions now?" he asked.
Jestfully commenting on his own abilities in holding press conferences, he said, "You must have seen that I have improved in press conferences. How did this happen? Who made me improve? It is because I come here and do press conferences. I must thank you for this," he said to the mediapersons.
He mocked Modi and his interviewers by saying that his interviews featured questions such as how he ate mangoes and how he struck upon wearing half-sleeve shirts. This was an apparent reference to Modi's interview to filmstar Akshay Kumar as also his interviews with the media.
"The press asks him 'tell us about Balakot'. And he says, 'I told the Air Force officers that there are clouds, their radar will not see our aircraft'," Gandhi said, mocking Modi. Referring to the rainy condition outside, he said, "I got scared that the prime minister's aircraft might disappear."
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Gandhi's reference was to Modi's reported remarks in an interview that he had advised the Indian Air Force to go ahead with the Balakot strikes in overcast conditions since the radars would not catch the aircraft because of the clouds.
He parried questions on how many seats the Congress would get or if his party would stake claim to the leadership of an anti-BJP front, saying he would wait till May 23 when the election results would be declared and did not want to pre-judge the people's decision.
To another question on if UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi would play a role in reaching out to potential allies, he said, "Sonia Gandhiji and Manmohan Singhji are our seniors. They have a lot of experience. I am not Narendra Modi. I don't push aside experience."
