New Delhi | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of waiving off loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of his billionaire friends, and said the country will never forgive him for this "crime".

In a post in Hindi on X, he said this money could have been used to cure the pain of Indians but was spent on creating hype for the ilk of those like 'Adanis'.

"Narendra Modi has waived off the loans of his billionaire friends amounting to Rs 1,60,00,00,00,00,000 i.e. 16 lakh crore rupees. With this much money: 16 crore youth could have got jobs of Rs 1 lakh per year, by giving Rs 1 lakh per year to 16 crore women, the lives of their families could have been changed. Countless suicides could have been prevented by waiving off the loans of 10 crore farmer families," he said.

"The entire country could have been provided gas cylinders for just Rs 400 for 20 years. The entire expenses of the Indian Army could have been borne for 3 years. Education up to graduation could have been made free for every youth from Dalit, tribal and backward society," the former Congress chief said in his post.

Charging that the "money which could have been used to cure the pain of 'Indians' was spent on creating hype for those like the 'Adanis'," he said the country will never forgive Narendra Modi for this crime.

"Now the situation will change - Congress will run the government for the progress of every Indian," Gandhi said.