Why did Modi dodge question on middle class, Rahul asks

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ignoring a BJP worker's question, during a recent video interaction with party workers from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, about the middle class struggling with the government's taxation policy.

Gandhi pointed to a December 19 interaction that saw Nirmal Kumar Jain, a BJP worker,  asking the Prime Minister why his government was busy collecting all manner of taxes but not providing any relief to the middle class by reducing the Income Tax rates or easing the procedures for securing loans.

While putting his question Jain specifically urged the Prime Minister to take care of the middle class.

Modi's reply was: "Thank you, Nirmal ji. You are a trader, so it's normal that you will talk business. I favour taking care of common people and the common people will be taken care of."

Modi then immediately switched to addressing workers from neighbouring Puducherry by saying: "Chaliye Puducherry ko Vanakam."

Reacting on media reports on the issue, Gandhi took to Twitter to yet again target Modi for his reluctance to face questions.

"Vanakam Puducherry! That's NaMo's answer to the struggling middle class. Forget a press conference he can't even string together a polling booth worker's conference. BJP-vetted questions is a superb idea. Consider vetted answers as well," tweeted Gandhi.