Sonia Gandhi attacks Modi, says PM goes into 'maun vrat' mode when faced with scandals

Gandhi accuses PM Modi of being totally incapable of delivering on his promises

A combative Sonia Gandhi today rejected government's offer of Prime Minister's intervention on Lalitgate and Vyapam issues in Parliament to break the impasse, insisting that those responsible for "gross wrong-doings" should first resign.

Gandhi also launched a direct attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the 'Mann ki Baat' man appears to retreat into a 'maun vrat' whenever there is a scandal involving his colleagues.

"The Prime Minister has been very free with his promises. Yet he seems totally incapable of delivering on them. On the one hand, he never misses an opportunity to claim the moral high ground on transparency, integrity and accountability," said Gandhi, while speaking at the party parliamentary meeting.

"On the other he has been conspicuous by his deafening silence on the blatant transgressions by his External Affairs Minister and two of his chief ministers. There are others too in this roll call of dishonour but for the time being we are confining ourselves to these three. The "mann ki baat" man appears to retreat into a "maun vrat" whenever there is a scandal involving his colleagues," she said.

"The current session of Parliament is a relatively short one but it is already proving eventful. It has been eventful for one and only one reason-and that is the gross insensitivity of the Modi Government to public opinion, for its absolute silence on acts of monumental corruption, its wilful violations of the law and gross misdemeanours on the part of its leading lights," she added.

The Congress president further tagged the Prime Minister as a 'master re-packager'.

"Since we met last, the Modi government has completed its first year in office and already it stands completely exposed. Of course, the Prime Minister has turned out to be a master re-packager, a skilful salesman, a sharp headline grabber and a clever news manager. Not a day passes without some UPA programme being given a new name or a new spin," said Sonia.

"We cannot deny the Prime Minister this prerogative. But what is positively deplorable is the shocking cuts in the budgetary allocations for these social sector schemes. That, and not the hijacking of our yojanas and initiatives, is what is most destructive," she said.