BENGALURU (TIP): Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi faced some embarrassing moments when a large section of the audience at Mount Carmel women’s college responded with an overwhelming “yes” to his poser on whether they thought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Swachh Bharat and Make in India campaigns were working.

During an interaction with students of the Mount Carmel College on Wednesday, November 25, the Congress Party leader took an instant poll asking the young audience about the twin flagship programs while slamming the Modi government.

Gandhi hastened to tell the audience that he differed with them. “You might see it, I don’t,” said Gandhi, who sported a grey T shirt, adding, “Anyway, I don’t clearly see a vision that the BJP is projecting.”

His interaction was the first in a series planned with students across campuses in the country. Gandhi, later talking to reporters, said the nature of the response of the students to his questions was not clear.

“Actually it was not clear. On Swachh Bharat, half the room said nothing had happened and some said something had happened. On Make in India, I think more people said not much had happened, some said things have happened,” he maintained.

The Bharatiya Janata Party lost no time to comment on the incident. BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said the meeting had exposed Gandhi’s “disconnect” with people.
“Rahul was shocked. Why was he shocked? Because of the very fact that he has a great disconnect, he does not know the vibrations on the ground. Leave aside the country, he cannot lead the youth of the country,” Patra said.

Congress Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Gandhi answered questions, unlike Prime Minister Modi who hardly ever answers questions.

“This is the way the leader of the country should interact with the young and the countrymen everywhere — sometimes disagreeing with them, sometimes agreeing with them and answering their basic inquisitiveness on how India should look in five years, 10 years and 20 years. Rahulji has answered, what no other political leader has done,” Surjewala said.