"If he (Modi) hasn't fasted and entered the sanctum sanctorum, then the place has been made 'apavitra' (impure) and it won't have the same kind of energy," Moily, a Congress veteran, reportedly said.
Karnataka polls: Moily said the issue would create a sympathy wave in part for the Congress becoming one of the factors that will be responsible for the fall of the BJP.
The US educated and trained management expert Moily said that his ClimateTech VC fund will focus on four verticals -- green buildings, energy storage, sustainable agriculture, and alternative energy such as green hydrogen and nuclear power.
His remarks came after official data released on Friday stated that India's economic growth slipped further to hit an over-six-year low of 4.5 per cent in the July-September quarter.
Sonia Gandhi was made interim president last August, barely 20 months after she voluntarily relinquished the top post in favour of son Rahul Gandhi who refused to continue on as Congress chief after a humiliating 2019 general election defeat.
Addressing a press conference here, he said the Congress, if voted to power in the December 7 assembly elections, would implement all the promises made in its manifesto.
The former Karnataka chief minister, on the campaign trail in Telangana, also said the Congress was gaining ground at the national level, while the BJP-led NDA was losing partners.
Moily also said that the parliamentary committee on finance had taken up the bad loans issue and that the IL&FS case falls within its scope
The former union minister also ruled himself out of the race for Chief Ministership, and slammed the BJP for raking up the issue of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's Italian origin.
TRS Chief K Chandrashekhar Rao had recently said a non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country.
Moily acknowledged there are calls for her continuation in the position, but said Rahul Gandhi, who assumed charge as the Congress president earlier this month, is also capable of holding the post.
Moily questioned the PM Modi as to what investigation has been carried out to establish his claims.
The former Union minister also said that the Congress vice president had acquired certain qualities of his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru and grandmother Indira Gandhi.
Addressing reporters here, he said Modi "is only busy with frequent foreign tours. He cannot stop cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. China is exporting its goods to India, but they do not import from India," he charged.
Moily said the Congress would take "aggressive and sustained steps" to ensure that Rahul Gandhi becomes the prime minister in 2019, asserting that "he has matured enough to take over not only the reins of the party but also of the government at the centre".
Moily, however, was not sure whether Gandhi would take over as the Congress president before the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, scheduled on November 9.
CNBC-TV18's Rituparna Bhuyan caught up with the Head of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Veerappa Moily. Moily said that government response to NPA issue is absolutely inadequate.
Moily, who had yesterday targeted the Centre for growing non-performing assets (NPAs), sought to pay the Minister back in the same coin, saying the rise was mainly due to "mismanagement of banks" by Modi dispensation.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel is learnt to have told the parliamentary panel on demonetisation that discussions between the central bank and the government on the process began early last year.
Nearly two-thirds of users of moneycontrol‘s message board say the RBI‘s admission that government 'advice' had prompted move to junk popular bank notes has undermined its credibility as an institution
The Committee had observed that role and responsibilities of the erstwhile Planning Commission, wherever found relevant and useful, could be gainfully institutionalised with greater result orientation.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has referred the Bill to the Standing Committee on Finance, which is chaired by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily.
The government had yesterday increased excise duty on petrol by Rs 0.30 per litre and by Rs 1.17 a litre on diesel to make use of slump in oil prices to garner an additional Rs 2,500 crore.
The NDA government has proposed some changes to the 2013 Land Act through an ordinance in December last year. The bill to replace the ordinance was passed by Lok Sabha but could not be put to vote in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP is in minority. Hence, the ordinance was re-promulgated twice.
The Appropriations Bill will be taken up on Wednesday. The Constitutional Amendment Bill to facilitate GST may be taken up next week. But there's no forward movement on the land acquisition bill which could be put off for the next session.