Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "only obsessed with his image" and "he is not concerned about the internal affairs of the country", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said today, launching a fresh attack on the government over the India-China standoff.
"Modi ji said nobody has taken away India's land.. but China has access to 1,200 square km of our land. How did they take it? Even China knows... 'the man at the top can give us this land to save his image'," Mr Gandhi told reporters this afternoon in Punjab's Patiala. He reached Punjab on Sunday to protest against the controversial farm laws, cleared by the parliament last month.
"PM Modi gave 1200 sq km to China to save his image... every top military leader knows this... whether you want to believe it or not," he added.
Targeting the Prime Minister, the ex-Congress chief further said: "Why don't you call him (PM Modi) for a press conference like this. Talk to him. Why is he scared of you guys? I will tell you why. He is scared of media and China for the same reason - both can spoil his image. He is just obsessed with his image, not concerned about what's happening in the country."
The 50-year-old Congress leader has been making scathing remarks about the recent border standoff, accusing the government of poor handling of the situation.
#WATCH Do you know why China was able to take away a part of our land? It is because China knows that the person who is sitting at the top position, just cares about his image: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Patiala, Punjab pic.twitter.com/MjY94cnFyl
— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2020In July, he had made similar comments linking the border tensions with Prime Minister's "focus on image building". "PM fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power. It was his biggest strength. It is now India's biggest weakness," he had tweeted.
"I know the Prime Minister is an opponent. My responsibility is to ask questions and put pressure on him so that he does his work. His responsibility is to give the vision," he is heard saying in a video he shared.
BJP chief JP Nadda had earlier hit back at Rahul Gandhi saying: "In recent years, be it Doklam or the present, RahulGandhi Ji prefers briefings from the Chinese instead of believing India's armed forces."
