Hyderabad: Telangana Government Advisor (SC, ST, OBC and Minorities) Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Friday strongly condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “failed product” remark on Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. He said a “failed Prime Minister” had no moral authority to ridicule a leader fighting on the streets to protect people’s democratic and voting rights.
Reacting to Modi’s remarks at a media summit, Shabbir Ali alleged that the Prime Minister had again resorted to personal attacks on Rahul Gandhi and the Nehru-Gandhi family. He said Modi did so instead of answering questions on governance, unemployment, economic distress, electoral integrity and democratic institutions. “A Prime Minister who repeatedly avoids those questions has no right to call the Leader of the Opposition a ‘failed product’,” he said.
Shabbir Ali said personal attacks had become Modi’s standard response whenever Rahul Gandhi or the Congress cornered the government. He alleged that Modi remembers Nehru and the Gandhi family whenever Rahul raises unemployment, inflation, electoral manipulation, cronyism or institutional independence. He termed Modi’s claim that the Nehru-Gandhi family had become a “burden” on the Congress “politically ridiculous and historically dishonest”.
“What India remembers is Jawaharlal Nehru helping build a new nation after nearly two centuries of colonial exploitation,” Shabbir Ali said. He added that Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi laid down their lives while serving the country.
Shabbir Ali defends Nehru-Gandhi family legacy
According to Shabbir Ali, Nehru inherited a country devastated by colonial rule, Partition, poverty and weak infrastructure. He said Nehru helped build democratic institutions, industries, scientific establishments, universities and an independent foreign policy. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi paid with their lives in public service, he said, while Sonia Gandhi endured enormous personal tragedy.
He added that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra grew up under the shadow of the assassinations of their grandmother and father. “Political opponents may disagree with their decisions, but nobody can erase their sacrifice from Indian history,” he said.
Shabbir Ali said Modi should examine his own political journey before lecturing others about political inheritance. He said Modi was an RSS pracharak whom the BJP leadership elevated as Gujarat Chief Minister without previous service as an MLA or minister. Leaders such as L.K. Advani played an important role in that rise, he said. “What happened to them once Modi became all-powerful?” he asked.
Shabbir Ali questions Modi’s own political rise
He said the BJP moved senior leaders, including Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, out of active decision-making into the Margdarshak Mandal after 2014. He alleged that leaders above 75 were effectively pushed into retirement in the name of generational change. “But when Modi himself crossed 75, that principle conveniently disappeared,” he alleged.
Shabbir Ali said Modi had “no stature to lecture the Congress about loyalty, sacrifice or political legacy”. He said the BJP, its government, publicity machinery and election campaigns now revolved around one individual. According to him, the party projects every achievement as Modi’s and blames every failure on others.
The Congress leader also questioned the timing of Modi’s attack. He said it came amid renewed controversy over photographs showing Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s India visit. He said questions raised by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress required answers. However, he added that facts and evidence must judge photographs or past associations, and that nobody should be presumed guilty merely because of a photograph.
Rahul Gandhi’s voting rights campaign
“Whenever the government faces embarrassment, the BJP tries to change the headline by attacking Rahul Gandhi and his family,” he alleged. He said Rahul Gandhi’s campaign over electoral irregularities and voting rights had unsettled the BJP and RSS. “These questions concern the foundation of Indian democracy,” he said of Rahul’s queries on whether every genuine voter will remain on the rolls and whether institutions function independently.
Shabbir Ali asked why the Prime Minister spends so much time attacking Rahul Gandhi if he is such a “failed product”. He also asked why the entire BJP machinery reacts whenever Rahul raises an issue. He said Rahul’s focus on voting rights, social justice, unemployment and institutional accountability had sent shivers through the BJP and RSS. “That is why they return to the same old script,” he said.
He said Modi was free to challenge Rahul Gandhi on policy, ideology and governance. However, targeting his father, grandmother and great-grandfather could not substitute for answers, he said. “Attacking his family is neither governance nor statesmanship,” he added.
“Rahul Gandhi will continue to fight for people’s constitutional and democratic rights,” Shabbir Ali said. “The more Modi avoids answering Rahul Gandhi’s questions, the clearer it becomes who is actually afraid of the debate.”
