Meerut: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was the “prime minister on TV only”.

Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was addressing a Congress programme to mark the 100th birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

He said Modi keeps on asking what the Congress has done for the country in the last 70 years.

“I would like to tell him that in 1940s, India had a population of 20 crore and due to scarcity of food, 10 lakh people had died in Bengal.

“But now none of the 120 crore Indians are dying due to food shortage and food crops are being exported to many countries too. This is what we (Congress) have done in the last 70 years,” Azad said.

“You (Modi) are the prime minister on TV only. Our prime minister (from the Congress) were on ground,” he said.

Azad said the BJP had promised 10 crore jobs but instead 15 crore people have been rendered jobless under this government.

Attacking those leaders who have left the Congress, Azad said he himself could have become a Cabinet minister (by joining the ruling party) but his ideology does not allow him to leave the Congress.

“People who leave one party for another do not have any ideology. This needs to be stopped,” he said.

He praised Indira Gandhi saying that when the USA had refused to send food crop supplies in 1970s, she had spoken about green revolution which helped increase food production.

Congress state president Raj Babbar, senior party leaders Mohsina Kidwai, Sanjay Singh and others were also present on the occasion.

—PTI