Congress is cunning\, has humiliated democratic instutions:

Congress is cunning, has humiliated democratic instutions:

Press Trust of India  |  Chennai 

In a stinging counteroffensive against the Congress, said on Wednesday the opposition party had "humiliated" institutions important to democracy like the and the CAG.

also hit out at the for its continued diatribe against him over the deal after the Supreme Court's verdict holding there was no wrongdoing.

"If you thought they (the Congress) only had a problem with EC and EVMs, now wait. They have humiliated the Army, CAG and every institution important to our democracy," he said during an interaction with polling booth level BJP workers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry through a video conference from New Delhi.

He was apparently referring to the questioning the veracity of the surgical strikes targeting terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied-and for contesting the Comptroller and Auditor General's finding of Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss to the exchequer in the coal scam.

had on Sunday lashed out at the government, saying he will not allow "destruction" of institutions like the and the

The BJP government believes "only one idea should run India", Gandhi had told a public rally organised by his party's southern ally the DMK in Chennai.

Referring to the Supreme Court's judgement on the contentious fighter jet deal, the said the Congress was opposing it just because it did not like the verdict.

"They (the Congress) questioned an SC verdict just because they did not like the decision. Earlier, just because they could not threaten the court into doing what they wanted, just beacuse the court was being fair, they tried to even impeach the of India," he said.

The Congress had earlier this year moved a notice in Parliament for impeaching the then Dipak Misra, seeking his removal on five grounds of "misbehaviour". It was, however, rejected by M Venkaiah Naidu on April 23.

Responding to a question of a on taking on the Congress over its "false" propaganda, Modi said the perfect answer to "undemocratic behaviour" lay in strengthening democracy.

"Like the sunlight, which is the best disinfectant, information and awareness are important for democracy. Hence, people need to be apprised of the behaviour, attitude and dangerous games of the Opposition, including the Congress.

"They will do their best to spread lies but it is in our hands to spread truth. They will do their best to mislead people but it is in our hands to expose them," he said.

He asked the BJP cadre to tell people that before every election the Congress party started making noise about EVMs to create an atmosphere of doubt. But when results were in their favour, they accepted it.

Likening the Congress and opposition parties to a student blaming the school, and examiner if his results were not favourable, Modi said, "The same thing is happening in the case of our opposition, too. This has to be explained to the people."

Hailing people as the greatest force protecting democracy, the said the last time Congress tried to threaten it, people threw them out of power. He was apparently hinting at imposition of Emergency by in 1975.

"Reach out to people and tell them the Congress' DNA is still the same. Just because Emergency saw a big fightback from the people now they have become more cunning in their tactics. But yet again will not excuse the Congress for playing with democracy."

Modi asked party workers to increase their public outreach by creating awareness about his "hardworking" government's welfare schemes.

"From housing to health care, from sanitation to skills, there are schemes for every section of society," he said, and asked booth level workers to reach out to people about those measures.

He said, if people were confused or misinformed, BJP workers could seek help of the Modi app to arm themselves with data and information.

Emphasising the need for strengthening the party at the polling booth level, Modi said,"Mera booth sabse majboot (strong). After all, the party that wins at the booth level wins the elections....meet (people) them regularly, share their joy, their sorrow and serve them."

He also interacted with beneficiaries of the Centre's Mudra loan scheme and lauded a woman, expressing happiness that she had now become a job giver.

Modi asked BJP workers to inform people about how the education sector had undergone a transformation under his government.

In the last four years, he said, the focus was broadened from only the outlays to include outcomes.

"Similarly, the earlier approach was only about teaching. Going a step ahead, the government looked at learning. We are improving quality of education and increasing quantity of opportunities," he said.

Modi said the government came up with the National Institutional Ranking Framework for rating institutions based on objective and verifiable criteria. It was made available seperately for streams such as engineering, management, pharmacy, architecture, humanities and law.

He also talked about the steps taken for setting up branches of the Institute of Medical Sciences in different states, including Tamil Nadu.

Modi said over 13,000 skill development centres were imparting livelihood training to lakhs of youth in 375 different skills.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, December 19 2018. 19:40 IST