Swaraj should hold history lessons for RPT FOR PM: Congress
Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi, DH News Service, Sep 24 2017, 21:12 IST
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. PTI file image.
Congress on Sunday welcomed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's “recognition” of the contribution of previous governments in the development of the nation and wanted her to hold a “history lesson” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Sushma ji, thank you for finally recognising Congress governments' great vision and legacy of setting up IITs and IIMs,” Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.
Earlier, Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said Swaraj's speech at the United Nations General Assembly was a “befitting reply to those who ask what happened in the last 70 years.”
The leitmotif of Modi's speeches, since the campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, has been “misrule” during 60 years of Congress rule. BJP President Amit Shah had in May this year claimed that the Modi government had done in three years what the Congress could not achieve in 70 years.
Stung by the repeated barbs, Congress leaders have time and again asserted its role in the development journey over the past 70 years.
“Sushma Swaraj mirrored the yeoman progress made by India under Congress rule, making 'inclusive growth & progress' as India's mantra,” Surjewala said.
The opposition party was unsparing in criticising Modi, who it claimed required some lessons in history.
“Sushma Swaraj is a well-read person. We are happy that she had some lessons for the prime minister. Had Modi read some history books, he would have known that IITs, IIMs, ISRO, Operation flood, Green Revolution are all contribution of the Congress-led government,” AICC spokesman Ajoy Kumar told reporters here.
Kumar said on her return to India from the United Nations should hold a history class for the prime minister to make him aware of the contribution of the Congress to the development of the country.
Surjewala also asked the Modi government to turn words against Pakistan into action. “Time to move words into action as Pakistan still receives $743 million annual US aid, collaborates with China on CPEC and buys arms from Russia,” he said.