Modi should read history to know who puts party before nation: Congress
The party's spokesperson also opined that if Modi wants to fight black money he should start with his own party.
New Delhi: Congress on Friday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his party-first remark and said he should read history to know who puts the party before the nation.
Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal told the Prime Minister that his party fought the freedom struggle which Modi's party had "opposed" and instead "sided" with the British.
"Modiji said the BJP is the only nationalist party and all others are anti-national. The trouble is, Modiji doesn't know history and neither is he interested in knowing it. Modiji should remember what his ideological masters did in 1947," he remarked.
He further added "For them, the organisation is first, the nation second. For us, the nation is always first. Today, Modiji has forsaken both the nation and the party. He only wants to see his own image on television."
Sibal also dubbed Modi's demonetisation decision unilaterally as "anti-national and anti-people" and said that if Modi wanted to fight black money, he should start from his own party.
"We want to ask which party has the most black money? Modiji should ask himself that. When talking about black money, Modiji should look at his own house," he said.
Taking a dig at him, Sibal also said that it is the first time the Prime Minister did not speak in Parliament and neither allowed the opposition to speak. He remarked that while he doesn't know how far the policy has impacted black money, numerous normal lives have been affected.
"While we Congressmen have no sympathy for profiteers and dealers in the black market, it is not right to penalise honest Indians, who in good faith have their savings in notes of demonetised value," he said quoting Dr Rajendra Prasad.
Sibal also asked "When Modi ji was giving speeches before 2014 (general elections), were people paying him in cheques? We want to ask, who was paying him in cheques? Which cheques are used to pay shakhas? In Jhandewalan (RSS' Delhi headquarters), are all payments made through cheques?."