The Newshour Debate: Mega meet, scathing attack

In a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday (September 8) said most of his poll promises were all "hawabaazi" (empty talk) and that his government has "failed abysmally" to match words with deeds and media events with actual accomplishments. The offensive unleashed by Sonia against Modi came even as the 68-year-old Congress leader's term as party presidentwas extended by another year through a resolution adopted by the Congress Working Committee(CWC), the party's highest policy making body, at its meeting in New Delhi. Sonia also said that from aggressively mocking his predecessor Manmohan Singh and his policy during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign Modi has been reduced to "unedifying flip-flops", casting doubts on what he really stood for. Giving credit to the campaign by Congress workers against land bill "under active guidance" of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi for the government climbdown, Sonia spoke of launching "similar" action against the "assault" on issues like labour reforms, women and child development, RTI and MGNREGA. In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami panelists -- Nalin Kohli, National Spokesperson, BJP and Advocate; Sunil Alagh, Chairman, SKA Advisors; Pavan Verma, MP, Rajya Sabha, JD (U) and Tom Vadakkan, National Spokesperson, Congress -- discuss whether -- hawa baazi versus haath ki safai - will both parties not go beyond jibes?