New Delhi [India], August 20 : Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Wednesday, stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political rule is in its "final phase" and claimed that a search for his successor is already underway, as per sources.
According to sources, Rahul Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi ka siyasi ant ho chuka hai. Inka waqt khatam ho gaya hai. Modi ka shasan aakhiri daur mein hai. Inke uttaradhikari ki talash chal rahi hai. (Narendra Modi's political end has come. His time is over. Modi's rule is in its final phase. A search for his successor is underway.)"
Rahul Gandhi also described the Modi government as being "completely on the back foot" and urged Congress leaders to adopt a more aggressive approach against the government, sources said.
The remarks were made during the CWC meeting at the Congress headquarters, Indira Bhawan, in Delhi, where senior Congress leaders discussed the political situation in the country and the party's strategy on key issues.
Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who also addressed the meeting, alleged that the Modi government had "devastated the future of the youth" over the past 12 years. He claimed that 94,000 schools had shut down in recent years and called for a clear, comprehensive and time-bound "Education-to-Employment Roadmap" for young people.
Kharge also raised questions over the money, gold and other donations received by the Ram Mandir trust. He said people had the right to know how the donations were being accounted for and used, and called for any financial wrongdoing to be properly investigated and those responsible to be held accountable.
The CWC meeting was attended by Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among other senior party leaders.
Kharge said the CWC was meeting for the first time since the conclusion of the Parliament session and would discuss pressing issues concerning the country, including the future of youth, accountability over donations to the Ram Temple trust and reports of Chinese encroachment along India's borders.
On the condition of India's youth, Kharge alleged that government policies had pushed young people into "a quagmire of profound despair". He said education and employment had been neglected amid what he described as a "race of communal frenzy and revdi culture".