NEW DELHI: A day after surprising the whole country by giving an unexpected hug to the Prime Minister, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he would tackle Narendra Modi's "hate and fear" with ''love and compassion''.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The Congress chief took to Twitter and tweeted, ''The point of Friday's debate in Parliament...Prime Minister uses hate, fear and anger in the hearts of some of our people to build his narrative. We are going to prove that love and compassion in the hearts of all Indians is the only way to build a nation." 



The response from Rahul Gandhi came shortly after the Prime Minister hit out at the Congress chief, without taking his name, and said, "You saw how they came running to the Prime Minister's chair, they can see nothing but the Prime Minister's chair."


The PM made these remarks while addressing a public gathering in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh -  his first after the NDA government at the Centre won the no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).


PM Modi said that the government asked the Opposition as to why they could not trust them, during his speech.


"When they failed to answer, they came and hugged me," said Prime Minister Modi.


He also highlighted the achievements of his government and the various welfare measures taken by the NDA regime since 2014 for the welfare of farmers, while also accusing the Opposition parties of shedding crocodile tears. 


In a major victory for the ruling BJP, the Modi government comfortably won the no-confidence motion tabled by the Opposition, which was defeated in the Lok Sabha after a 12-hour long heated debate.


The motion was defeated by 325 votes against it while 126 in its favour out of the total 451 votes cast in the Lok Sabha.


Thought the two sides traded charges, it was Rahul Gandhi who virtually stole the show after delivering a blistering speech. The Gandhi scion walked over to the PM's chair and hugged him.


He said love and tolerance, not hatred and lynchings, was the way forward for India.


"I have not an iota of hatred or hard feelings against you. You hate me. You may call me Pappu, you can use a stream of expletives for me. But I don't hate you or have even slightest of anger for you. I am the Congress," Rahul Gandhi said at the end of his nearly 40-minute fiery speech.


PM Modi later hit out at him accusing the Congress chief of arrogance, negativity, childish conduct and a burning desire to become Prime Minister. 


The BJP strongman also said he was extending best wishes to the Congress and other opposition parties to bring another no-confidence motion in 2024.


The Prime Minister, while replying to the debate on the no-confidence motion, moved by the TDP, against the government in the Lok Sabha, said the Congress lacked self-confidence and had no faith in the Chief Justice of India, Election Commission, Electronic Voting Machines, Reserve Bank of India and programmes like Swachh Bharat.