PM Modi questions media: ‘Why not name Congress instead of Opposition?’

PM Modi on Sunday inaugurated both the Namo Bharat Rapid Rail and the Metro service from the same platform in Meerut.

• PM Modi slams Congress for protest at AI Impact Summit in Delhi
• He says Congress embarrassed India before global delegates
• PM inaugurates Namo Bharat Rapid Rail and Metro service in Meerut

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Criticising the Congress over its “shirtless” protest at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the media should directly name the party instead of broadly referring to it as the “Opposition.”

"The Congress commits a sin, Congress is criticized, but the media doesn't use the word Congress, only the word opposition. Why? Why are you protecting the Congress? By doing this, you neither save the Congress, nor force the Congress to improve," he said while addressing an event in Meerut.

PM Modi said the Congress protest had embarrassed the country before international delegates attending the summit.

"Congress turned India's global event into an arena for its dirty and shameless politics. At the venue, in front of foreign guests, Congress leaders arrived stripping off their clothes. I ask the Congress people-- everyone already knows you are politically naked, then what was the need to remove your clothes? What Congress leaders did there shows how ideologically bankrupt and impoverished the country's oldest party has become."

He said the AI Impact Summit was not a BJP event, but a matter of national pride and the entire country condemned Congress's conduct.

"Congress leaders hate Modi. They want to dig my grave, they have no hesitation in insulting my mother, they oppose the BJP, and they oppose the NDA. Fine, if that is necessary for their politics, we can understand and tolerate it. But Congress should have remembered that the AI Global Summit was not a BJP event, nor was any BJP leader present there. It was a national event, a matter of national pride, built on the sweat of the people. Yet Congress broke all boundaries of decency," PM Modi said.

According to the PM, the entire country is condemning Congress's conduct. “But unfortunately, instead of feeling ashamed, the leaders of such an old party are shamelessly cheering those who insulted the nation," he said.

The Prime Minister contrasted the "poisonous politics" of Congress and other parties with the BJP's development-focused governance. Citing infrastructure growth.

"Before 2014, metro services reached only 5 cities. But today, metro trains are running in more than 25 cities across the country. India has now become the third-largest metro network in the world," he said.

In Meerut, PM Modi on Sunday inaugurated both the Namo Bharat Rapid Rail and the Metro service from the same platform, calling it a first-of-its-kind initiative. "For the first time in the country, Namo Bharat and Metro Rail will run on the same station, the same track. From one platform, you can travel within the city, and from the same station, you can go directly to Delhi," he said.