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NEW DELHI: Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said there should be "no doubt" that incumbent president Rahul Gandhi is now "my boss, too," reported news agency ANI.

"We have a new Congress president and on your behalf and my own I wish him all the best. He is now my boss, too. Let there be no doubt about that," ANI quoted her as saying.

She made the comments while speaking at the Congress parliamentary party meet.

Sonia slammed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre for engaging in "maximum publicity, minimum government" and "maximum marketing, minimum delivery," reported PTI.

She alleged a "systematic assault" on various institutions of democracy. She charged the government for using investigative agencies as instruments to target political rivals.

"It has been almost four years since this government came to power. This has been a period in which institutions have come under systematic assault - Parliament itself, judiciary, media and civil society. Investigative agencies have been let loose against political opponents," she said.

"Violence against minorities, Dalits is not sporadic, but orchestrated to polarise society for narrow political gains," she added.

Sonia also appreciated her party's performance in the recent Assembly elections in Gujarat and by-polls in Rajasthan.

"We performed very creditably under tough circumstances in Gujarat and recent by-election results in Rajasthan were huge. This shows winds of change are coming. I am sure Karnataka too will underline the resurgence of Congress," she said.

The former Congress chief used her speech as a clarion call to party leaders for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, urging them to be "in a state of readiness."

"No doubt 2014 was a severe setback, but I am convinced that it was an aberration," she added.

She spoke about the need to not just highlight the "abject failures of the Modi government but more importantly, build a positive and credible narrative for ourselves on issues of public concern."

Echoing her party's oft-repeated demands for clarification on the Rafale deal, Sonia wondered: "And what do we make of the government resorting to fictitious arguments to justify the secrecy about the price of one of India’s biggest defence purchases - the Rafael fighter aircraft?"

She questioned the "tall claims" on the economic front, including job creation.

"Unemployment is staring at our youth. New jobs are not only not being created, but existing jobs themselves are being lost," she asserted. "Employment cannot happen without new investments and the fact is that there has been a marked decline in the rate of investment over the past four years."

Sonia also slammed the Union Budget presented earlier this month as "full of sleights of hand, of jumlas."

In an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's 'hugplomacy', she said, "Personalized diplomacy and public bear-hugs are all very well but there is no substitute for institutionalized processes, for hard work and preparation, and for continuity in our national policies."

(With inputs from agencies)

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In Video: Rahul Gandhi is my boss too, says ex-Congress president Sonia Gandhi