Country lacks leadership, government has messed up economy, defence: Rahul Gandhi

Accusing the government of "messing up" economy, harmony and defence, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said it had made an inadequate allocation for defence in the budget for next fiscal and asked what message was it giving to China.

Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi alleged that the country is lacking leadership and there is "no understanding, no strategy".

"If you look at the broader picture, essentially what has happened is that the Government is now unable to control the situation. The governance of this country, they are basically unable to handle it and their incompetence is now coming to the fore. They have messed up the economy, they have messed up the harmony, they have messed up the defence and they want to keep distracting India with non-events. I am saying that the country is in a dangerous position," he alleged.

He slammed the union budget and said giving cash support to the poorest sections, as proposed in the Nyay scheme of Congress, would have given a boost to consumption and revived the economy.

"China enters into India and grabs our land. What message do you give them? That we won't increase our Defence Expenditure. You raised it by Rs 3000-4000 crores. What message did you give? That you can enter India and do whatever you want, we won't support our defence forces. The country is facing difficulty and we are not providing forces with money," he said.

Answering a query, he said agriculture was the bright spot of the economy and the backbone of the country and the government was "hitting it".

He said the government should repeal the three farm laws as demanded by protesting farmers.

"What is there to talk. The one bright spot in the economy, that has also been hit," he said.

Answering a query, he said that the reputation of India "has taken a massive hit". "Our biggest strength, you can call it soft power, has been shattered by the BJP and the RSS. That is their mindset," he alleged.

Answering a question about incidents at Red Fort on January 26 during tractor rally by farmers, he asked how people were "allowed to come in".

"I want to understand, who is the person responsible for letting those people into the Red Fort? The Home Minister needs to explain to us what he was doing and why these people entered the Red Fort?"

He said the world is in a flux and China has a clear vision of what it wants to achieve while India does not have such a vision.

The Congress leader said a clear message should be given to China over the border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

"It requires a clear message to China that you cannot do this with us. You cannot be sitting inside our land and expect that nothing is going to happen. This country is lacking leadership. There is no leadership in this country anymore. There is just talk, there is no understanding, there is no strategy, the thing has come apart," he said.

"My constant request to the Prime Minister is, do your job. Your job is to protect the kisans, who are standing outside. Go, hold their hands, give them a hug and tell them, what is it that I can do for you? Your job is to make sure that small and medium business can compete with China. The Prime Minister has basically given up. He is now on a different plane. He has got a beard and seems we are going somewhere else now and the country is not being run," he alleged.

He said Prime Minister should take quick action to put money into the hands of people to boost the economy.

( With inputs from ANI )