Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "playing the victim card" and demanded that he apologise over a range of issues, including the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, the Ram Mandir donation controversy and the 2016 demonetisation exercise.
In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that the Prime Minister frequently targeted his predecessors and political opponents while portraying himself as a victim.
"The self-declared non-biological PM enjoys playing the victim card. He uses vile vitriol against his predecessors and political opponents. He very frequently peddles lies to defame them, not just in his public speeches but in Parliament itself. He unleashes an army of foul-mouthed abusers both in Parliament and outside and gives them full protection," Ramesh wrote.
The Congress general secretary also criticised the Centre over the alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) and the police action against students during the recent protests.
"The entire nation is wanting the PM to apologise for the trauma inflicted on lakhs of youth through his paper leak-ridden NTA and his Home Ministry-sanctioned brutality on student protestors," he said.
Ramesh further alleged that the Prime Minister should apologise over the controversy surrounding donations to the Ram Mandir Trust.
"The entire nation is waiting for the PM to apologise for the 'Chanda Chori Astha Dhoka' by the Ram Mandir Trust, the establishment of which he had himself grandly announced in the Lok Sabha on February 5, 2020," he said.
Referring to the Centre's November 8, 2016 demonetisation decision, Ramesh reiterated the Congress' longstanding criticism of the move.
"The entire nation is still expecting his apology for his Tughlakian notebandi of Nov 8, 2016, that destroyed crores of livelihoods and shuttered lakhs of MSMEs. The list is endless," he said.
Ramesh's remarks came in response to Prime Minister Modi's video message released on Friday, in which he said he had forgiven the students accused of using abusive language against him during the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and urged society to guide rather than punish them.
Calling the Prime Minister's remarks "an act of supreme self-obsession", Ramesh said, "The PM said that he forgave our youth. This is an insult to the nation and to our youth which has suffered under his Government and is legitimately demanding an apology from him. The Prime Minister's Instagram Sabhas are fooling no one."