Hitting back at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that she had been an “unconstitutional” authority exercising “real” power over the PMO during the UPA rule. Dismissing the Congress president’s accusation that NDA government was showing “obstinate arrogance” in Parliament and that it was a government by “one person”, Mr. Modi said: “Perhaps, she is referring to the fact that earlier extra-constitutional authorities were the ones really wielding power”. When asked about the criticism that all powers were concentrated in the PMO, Mr. Modi responded: “Your question is loaded. It would have been better if this question had been asked when an unconstitutional authority was sitting above the constitutional authority and exercising power over the PMO”. He emphasised that “the Prime Minister and the PMO are very much part of the constitutional scheme, not outside it”. Countering Rahul Gandhi’s ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ jibe, Mr. Modi said that the Congress has not been able to “digest” its defeat in Lok Sabha polls even after one year.
