Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, on Monday (Feb 3), denounced the President's address to the two Houses saying that saying that it was eerily similar to last year's speech.
He dismissed the address as a mere "laundry list" of the government's accomplishments, implying that it lacked substance and vision for the country's future.
During a debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address on January 31, Gandhi criticised the government's handling of unemployment.
He argued that both the UPA, led by Congress, and the present NDA governments failed to address the issue, leaving young people without clear employment prospects.
He then said that 'Make in India' was a good initiative by the government, but the Prime Minister "pretty much failed".
Gandhi further alleged that China's presence within India's borders is the result of the country refusing to produce, which showcases a failure of 'Make in India' initiative.
"I am worried that India is going to give up this revolution to the Chinese once again," he said.
'Jaishankar went to US to get invitation for PM Modi for Trump's coronation,' says Gandhi
Gandhi then mocked the Modi government, claiming that if the Centre had taken the economic policies seriously, it would not have to send Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to the United States to get an invite for the prime minister to Donald Trump's inauguration.
#BudgetSession2025 | Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says "People talk about AI, but it's important to understand that AI on its own is absolutely meaningless because AI operates on top of data. Without data, AI means nothing. And if we look at data today, there is one… pic.twitter.com/WD5oMnh0gl
— ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2025
"Our foreign policy would take into account this revolution. When we talk to the United States, we would not send our foreign minister to invite our Prime Minister to his coronation...Because if we had a production system and if we were working on these technologies, the American President would come here and invite the Prime Minister," the Congress leader said.
Kiren Rijiju hits back
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju hit back at Gandhi over his "unsubstantiated claims" on the government's foreign policy.
"You cannot make such unsubstantiated claims," he said.
#WATCH | Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju objects to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's remarks on PM Modi over the inaugural ceremony of US President Donald Trump
— ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2025
Kiren Rijiju says, "Leader of Opposition cannot make such serious unsubstantial statement. This is… https://t.co/zdbDl1RnRl pic.twitter.com/rcgMKuLQlZ
"Leader of Opposition cannot make such a serious, unsubstantial statement. This is related to the relation between two countries, and he is making an unverified statement about the invitation of the Prime Minister of our country," Rijiju said.
To this Gandhi replied, "I apologize for disturbing your peace of mind..."
(With inputs from agencies)