‘Unworthy of PM to…’: Tharoor says Congress did not politicise Pulwama, Uri

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a good speech but did not answer a single question put forward by the opposition.

Tharoor also hit back at the prime minister for attacking Congress over the terror incidents during United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule from 2004-2014.

“PM gave a good speech but he didn’t answer any of the questions that were asked by the Opposition,” Tharoor told reporters after the prime minister’s reply in Lok Sabha to the Motion of Thanks on President’s address.

“Aside from this, it was unworthy of the PM to attack Congress for terrorist incidents during UPA rule. Those were attacks on India, not on Congress. We did not politicise Pulwama, Uri, Pathankot, Sagrota, as examples of BJP enabling terror. Speak for India, @narendramodi ji!” he later tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi had cited terror attacks in different parts of India during the UPA government, its “absence” of response following the Mumbai attack and various alleged scams involving 2G, coal allocation and the 2010 Commonwealth Games to target the Congress. He contrasted it with the boom in start-ups, effective response to terrorism and boost in infrastructure under the BJP-led NDA rule since 2014.

The opposition hit out at PM Modi for not responding to allegations related to industrialist Gautam Adani, which they termed “the elephant in the room”, with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accusing Modi of “protecting” the billionaire.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi said the prime minister did not answer the questions he had posed to him.

“I am not satisfied, but it reveals the truth. There was no talk of an inquiry. If he is not a friend (of Adani), he should have agreed to an inquiry. There was no probe into shell companies in the defence sector and benami money is changing hands, but the prime minister did not say anything on that.

“It is clear that the prime minister is protecting him (Adani),” Gandhi said.

“He is surely trying to protect him and I understand this and there are reasons for it,” he added.