Rahul calls Modi 'darpok'; dares him to 5 min debate on Rafale and national security
New Delhi: Mounting a fresh offensive on Narendra Modi, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Thursday called the prime minister a "darpok" (coward) and dared him to a five minute face-to-face debate on issues such as the controversial Rafale jet deal and national security.
Addressing the Congress' minority department convention here, a combative Gandhi also alleged that the RSS was trying to capture the institutions of the country and said his party's governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh will remove the organisation's loyalists from the system.
In his speech covering a range of topics, Gandhi slammed Modi for his China policy, saying the prime minister flew to the country and held a summit without an agenda while Beijing sent its army to Doklam, a reference to the China-India border standoff in 2017.
Modi folded his hands before China, the Congress chief claimed, adding that China realised within two months that "leave alone 56 inches, he doesn't even have a four-inch chest".
"I know his (Modi) character after fighting him for five years...I say to BJP leaders... make Narendra Modi stand with me on stage for five minutes and debate on national security, Rafale," Gandhi said in his speech in Hindi.
"I want to say he is a darpok (coward) person. I have recognised him. He gets scared when he faces someone who says I will not back off, he backs off," the Congress president said, walking away dramatically from the mike for visual effect, eliciting applause from Congress workers.
In a speech laced with sarcasm, Gandhi did not spare Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, mocking him for allegedly taking instructions from the British.
Gandhi urged his party's workers to face the RSS, the BJP and Modi with all their might. If Congress workers stand together, they (RSS, BJP, Modi) will run away as "they are cowards", he added.
The Congress chief said fear was writ large on Modi's face and asserted that those who spread hatred will be defeated.
Declaring that the "image of Narendra Modi is finished", Gandhi said, "He now knows you can't rule India by dividing people."
The Congress chief alleged that the RSS was attempting to capture the country's institutions, from the judiciary to the Election Commission.
"We have not merely formed governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh... we will ensure that RSS people put in institutions in these states are removed," he said.
Gandhi claimed that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath informed him that there was a special ministry in the state under the BJP rule to which Rs 800 crore were given and it was full of RSS people.
"In these states (MP, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan), one by one, we will do the work of removing RSS people from government's institutions. The bureaucracy of these states should know and India's bureaucracy should know that you are not RSS' bureaucracy, but India's bureaucracy," Gandhi said.
He asserted that irrespective of language, religion, and caste, the Congress party will always protect all Indians.
The aim of the RSS is to set aside the Constitution and run the country from Nagpur, he alleged.
"The RSS puts its people in the judicial system, in the Election Commission. The CBI chief if he wants to probe Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is set aside and an RSS person is put in his place. Their aim is to finish all institutions in the country," Gandhi alleged.
He also alleged that Modi was the face but the government was being run by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
"With Narendra Modi as PM, four Supreme Court judges come out and say that 'we are not being allowed to work' and in the same line take the name of Justice Loya and indirectly say that BJP president Amit Shah is not allowing the Supreme Court to do its work," Gandhi said, referring to CBI judge B H Loya who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and died in Nagpur on December 1, 2014.
The RSS and the BJP think that they are above India, but in three months the country will make them understand that it is not so, Gandhi said.
He alleged Modi snatched the Rafale contract from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and helped Anil Ambani to make a profit of Rs 30,000 crore.
The government, as well as Anil Ambani, have strongly denied any wrongdoing in the fighter jet agreement with France.
"Do you accept that five years ago PM Narendra Modi's reputation was very good. Do you accept that today Narendra Modi is a thief. He can't even speak openly," Gandhi said.
In his tenure Modi gave Rs 3.5 lakh crore to 15 industrialists, Gandhi alleged.
"I asked the team framing the Congress manifesto to give something that shakes up the country. I asked them to give me something that I could offer loudly and change the mood of the people," he said of his party's minimum income promise for the poor.
The minimum income amount will be deposited in the bank accounts of the poor across the country by the Congress, he said.
"If Modi ji can give lakhs of crores of rupees to 15 individuals, we can also put money in the pocket of the poor people," he said.
This decision will be first of its kind in the world, where a big country like India will directly transfer money in the accounts of poor people, Gandhi said, adding that this will eradicate poverty.
Gandhi again brought up the Rafale deal while talking to reporters after his meeting with the party's general secretaries.
"The Prime Minister has helped steal Rs 30,000 crore from the defense forces and handed it to Anil Ambani and he has done it personally. Please remember what I have said. He has done it personally," he alleged.
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Philippines president declares national energy emergency amid global fuel supply risks
Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared a national energy emergency, citing the “imminent danger” to the country’s fuel supply due to global disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
“The declaration of a state of national energy emergency will enable the government… to implement responsive and coordinated measures under existing laws to address the risks posed by disruptions in the global energy supply and the domestic economy,” Al Jazeera quoted Marcos Jr as saying.
As part of the emergency response, a committee has been formed to ensure the orderly movement, supply, distribution and availability of fuel, food, medicine, agricultural products and other essential goods, he said.
The emergency declaration, which will remain in force for one year, allows the government to procure fuel in advance and take action against hoarding and profiteering.
Authorities are also empowered to take action against the hoarding, profiteering and manipulation of petroleum product supplies.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the country currently has about 45 days of fuel supply based on current consumption. She added that the government is working to procure 1 million barrels of oil from countries within and outside Southeast Asia to build a buffer stock, though uncertainties remain.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the government is in talks with Washington to secure exemptions that would allow for the purchase of oil from countries under US sanctions.
The announcement comes amid rising public discontent. Transport workers, commuters, and consumer groups have planned a two-day strike to protest fuel price hikes and what they call inadequate government response.
Piston, a federation of public transport associations, described the declaration of a national energy emergency as a “superficial band-aid that deliberately ignores the structural roots of the fuel crisis”.
“If the government genuinely intends to protect transport workers and commuters from this geopolitical crisis, it would immediately suspend the Excise Tax and Value-Added Tax on petroleum products to drastically lower prices overnight,” Al Jazeera quoted Piston as saying.
Renato Reyes Jr, of the progressive civil society coalition Bayan, said the declaration “does not address the basic problem of runaway oil prices and [their] effects on the mass transport system and other sectors in the country”.
As part of the government’s mitigation measures, students and workers in some cities are being given free access to bus rides, and the government has started to provide a 5,000 peso subsidy for public transport workers, including motorcycle taxi drivers, to help them cope with rising fuel costs.
