Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi speaking to students at Stella Maris college in Chennai on March 13.Twitter/Congress

In an interaction with students in Chennai, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, March 13, asked the audience: "How many times have you seen the PM of India standing in the middle of 3000 women like this, being open to any question from anybody? Why doesn't the PM have the guts to be questioned by them?"

The Congress president was addressing hundreds of students at Stella Maris College for Women and told them that Tamil Nadu was one of the leaders with respect to the treatment of women, but a lot of improvement was required. He urged them to ask him "only difficult" questions." Can you call me Rahul instead of sir," he said as a student rose to ask him a question.

Rahul Gandhi was in Chennai today as part of his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections 2019. He said the UPA will reserve 33 per cent government jobs for women and pass the Women's Reservation Bill giving 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha if the party wins the Lok Sabha battle.

While interacting with the students, Gandhi also referred to the investigation against his brother-in-law Robert Vadra and said, "The government should not be selective". Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also be investigated in the Rafale jet deal, said the Congress President.

The Congress party has partnered with the influential opposition DMK party, formerly led by Karunanidhi, to take on the NDA in Tamil Nadu, which has officially joined the ruling AIADMK. Gandhi faced a range of questions from the students about the Congress-led UPA's plans for economic growth, bringing peace in Jammu and Kashmir, on charges against his brother-in-law Robert Vadra, views about the Modi government and the reason for hugging Modi in Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi Chennai

While speaking about the Prime Minister, the Congress leader said that he had no hatred towards him. "Love is the foundation of every religion whether it is Hinduism, Islam or Christianity. I was watching the Prime Minister speech in Parliament where he was criticizing my father, grandmother, great grandfather and the Congress," he said.

Rahul Gandhi also said the UPA defeat in 2014 taught him several lessons. In 2014, I was a young politician. The best thing that happened then was that we lost the elections. It taught us a lot. I can't hate PM Modi. You can't hate people who teach you things, the Congress leader said.