Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 9 (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed Modi government over 26 per cent 'reciprocal tariffs' imposed by the US on India and said a financial storm is about to hit the country.

Addressing the All India Congress Committee session in Ahmedabad, Rahul Gandhi also attacked the government over the Waqf Bill which was passed in Parliament in the budget session and is now a law and said the legislation is 'an attack on the freedom of religion and the Constitution'.

He alleged that the Modi government 'staged the drama' of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament to divert people's attention from the issue of tariffs.

Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States in February and said there was no comment when the US President announced that reciprocal tariffs will be imposed on India.

'Did you see a photo of PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald J Trump hugging this time when the PM visited the US?... President Trump, whom PM Modi calls his friend, gave orders that this time they will not hug, this time, I will impose new tariffs. But PM Modi did not even utter a word. To divert the attention of the public, a drama was staged in the parliament for two days. The reality is that a financial storm is about to hit...crores of people will face loss. Unemployment is higher than in the last 50 years. Where is PM Modi?' he asked.

Rahul Gandhi also accused the BJP-led government of trying to control institutions.

'Their (RSS) ideology is against the Constitution. They want to end democracy. They want to control all the institutions of India and hand over the country's money to Ambani Adani... The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is an attack on the freedom of religion and the Constitution,' he said.

Rahul Gandhi also attacked the BJP over the row of a former party MLA Gyandev Ahuja seeking to 'purify' a temple aftea r visit by Rajasthan's Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully, who belongs to the Dalit community. The BJP later suspended the former party MLA from primary membership of the party.

'After Tika Ram Jully, our Dalit leader, went to a temple, BJP leaders got the temple cleaned once he left... This is not our religion,' Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress leader also raised the party's demand for a caste census in the country and alleged that government does not want to conduct it.

'We took a revolutionary step of caste census in Telangana. A few months before that, I had asked PM Narendra Modi in the Parliament that we should get a caste census done in the country... I wanted to know who had what share in this country and whether this country truly respected the tribal, Dalit, and backward communities. PM Narendra Modi and RSS clearly refused the caste census because they don't want to reveal the share that minorities get in this country... I told him that we will pass the caste census law in the Parliament right in front of you,' Gandhi said. (ANI)