New Delhi: On Friday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first press conference in five years. The Congress president congratulated PM Modi and said in his tweet: "Congratulations Modi Ji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle." However, the appreciation ended there, itself as Gandhi took a pot shot at Modi for not taking questions in the press conference and largely speaking about himself. The questions asked to Modi were answered by Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) President Amit Shah in the conference.

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"Next time Mr. Shah may even allow you to answer a couple of questions. Well done!" said Gandhi sarcastically, in his tweet. Rahul Gandhi, who held a parallel press conference at the time Modi and Shah were meeting reporters, repeatedly urged Modi to debate him on several issues.

"Prime Minister holds a press conference just 4-5 days before the election ends. Unprecedented, Prime Minister of India is holding a press conference for the first time," Mr. Gandhi said mockingly. "Why did Modi not accept my challenge for a debate on the Rafale issue?" he asked at the press conference.

"Our strategy for the last two years was to systematically close every door to stop Narendra Modi from escaping. We closed 90% of the doors, and he helped us close the remaining 10% by abusing people." The Congress president claimed that the Election Commission was biased in favor of the BJP. "The entire schedule has been in Modi's favor and the people of the country understand this," he said.

"Narendra Modi and the BJP have unlimited money and unlimited marketing. A lot more than us. The ratio I think would be 1:20. We only have the truth and the truth will win," he said, adding that the Congress had exposed the government's failures.

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