New Delhi, May 28: Rahul Gandhi today sought to milk yesterday's meeting between Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi, saying the Prime Minister was "clueless" about the economy and "took tutorials from our (former) Prime Minister in a one-hour pathshala (class)".
"Modi doesn't understand. Yesterday, he took tutorials in a one-hour pathshala from our (former) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has said the economy is going down," Rahul said, addressing a meeting of Congress student wing NSUI.
The Congress vice-president made the comments in the context of the government's efforts to kick-start the economy and the Prime Minister's "Make-in-India" slogan.
"Make-in-India will produce a zero. Nothing will come out of it. If you think you can deliver by giving finance and facilities to two to three industrialists, you can't do Make-in-India. For this to succeed, you will have to empower ordinary citizens."
As his comments about Singh - a former economics professor - "coaching" Modi drew cheers and claps, Rahul rubbed the point in: "The economy is going down. Modi doesn't know how economy works, how to handle it. I will ask Manmohan Singhji what advice he gave."
Yesterday, senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma had said the Prime Minister discussed foreign affairs and economy with his predecessor, and insisted that such interactions were normal.
While Modi's decision to tweet photos of the meeting without explaining the purpose and reason for Singh's trip to the Prime Minister's house was viewed as a ploy to overshadow the former Prime Minister's criticism of the government earlier in the day, Rahul's "tutorial" remark too was considered to be in poor taste.
The Prime Minister meeting his immediate predecessor can be part of a systemic engagement but Rahul was seen projecting it in the same manner as Modi used the meeting to trigger suspicions by not revealing why and what led Singh to drop in.
Modi, as Congress spokesperson Sharma said, did discuss the economy. Singh is respected for his knowledge of the subject and is considered the architect of India's economic reforms for the changes he introduced in 1991 as finance minister in the P.V. Narsimha Rao government.
Some cited this background to disapprove of Rahul's "tutorial" remark and his take on the meeting.
