india

Updated: Feb 22, 2019 19:23 IST

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over reported shooting for a documentary film on the day Pulwama attack happened. Gandhi said 40 soldiers were killed in a terror attack but “the nationalist prime minister was sitting in a national park” smiling for the camera.

Gandhi alleged that PM Modi did not cut short his programme to inquire about the Pulwama terror attack and express solidarity with the families of the martyrs. He said, “Today in India, there are some people who call themselves nationalists but when 40 of our CRPF jawans were martyred…When the blood was still flowing, the Prime Minister of India, who calls himself a nationalist was sitting in a national park getting a movie made of himself.”

Gandhi was referring to reported shooting of a movie on PM Modi in the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. The Congress had raised the issue on Thursday seeking to know from PM Modi what he was doing for more than two hours after terrorists attacked a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir.

At least 40 jawans were killed in the terror attack, which was the worst in Kashmir Valley in decades. Gandhi, at his Andhra Pradesh rally, said, “For three and a half hours after our youngsters were killed, the prime minister posed in front of cameras, smiled for the cameras laughed for the cameras and made a movie of himself.”

Gandhi was speaking at a public meeting in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, where he alleged PM Modi breaking “every promise” he had made in the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

“Mr Narendra Modi promised that he will give Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh for 10 years. In that same speech he probably told that he will put Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every person. He also promised 2 crore jobs to youth…Every single statement of his is a lie,” said Gandhi.

He promised to give Andhra Pradesh special category status if the Congress is voted to power in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “No force in this world will stop the Congress party from giving special status to Andhra Pradesh if we are voted to power,” he said.

Gandhi also talked about his party’s promises made in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan assembly elections last year. He said the Congress party promised loan waiver for farmers within 10 days of being voted to power. “It did not take us 10 days, we did it within two days,” Gandhi said.

Earlier, Gandhi trekked nearly 10 km-long steep stairway to offer prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. “Today I went to the most holy place in the state. It was an honour for me to go there,” he later told the public rally.