Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him “incompetent”. “The country has suffered tremendous damage as a result of the vanity and incompetence of our PM,” Gandhi said while addressing Congress parliamentary party meeting here.

He said that Congress never gave India a Prime Minister who was a prisoner of his own image and criticised Modi’s Kashmir policies.  “By the time Congress left government in 2014 — 50 plane loads of tourists were landing in Srinagar airport every day,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi added that his party stands with the soldiers and victims of terrorism. “I would like to honour the soldiers, officers and civilians who have lost their lives to terrorists over this year… We gave the government our full support during the surgical strikes.

“We will always support any action that helps India defeat terrorism. But policy cannot be based on ad hoc responses to events. The price of not thinking actions through is simply too high,” he said.

He criticised demonetisation and offered his condolence to the 80 odd people who have lost their lives after high value currency was banned on November 8. He also slammed the government for passing important legislation on voice votes.

“It is a reflection of the BJP’s mindset that they choose to pass the ‘Amendments to Income Tax’ bill in the din without allowing for a discussion. It is an insult to the institution,” he said. Both houses have been subjected to repeated disruptions everyday since the winter session of the Parliament started in November.