![CWC_meet-ANI](http://images.catchnews.com/upload/2016/11/07/cwo8vykuqaedfgw-m.jpg)
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi chaired the crucial Congress Working Committee meet (CWC) on 7 November and unleashed a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his government is "obsessed" with power and seeks to "silence" those who disagree.
"Hiding behind the cloak of national security, civil society is being intimidated for asking questions. Democracy, under the present dispensation, is going through one of its darkest hours," Rahul Gandhi said, while addressing party members.
Adding that the central government does not approve of asking questions, Rahul urged his party members to "expose" the government's failures in the upcoming Parliament session.
Congress VP Rahul Gandhi chairs CWC meeting today in the absence of Sonia Gandhi, meeting underway (Inside visuals) pic.twitter.com/1xmFiEeiaO
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 7, 2016
Rahul Gandhi further termed the PM Modi-led central government as a "callous" government and said they were announcing poor rewards for soldiers by delaying the implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.
Last week, Ram Kishan Grewal, an ex-servicemen who was protesting the delay in implementing the OROP scheme, allegedly committed suicide in Haryana.
He added that under the current government, television channels are being punished and asked to shut down, referring to the one-day ban on NDTV India for revealing "strategically-sensitive" details while covering the Pathankot terrorist attack.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi could not attend the meet, citing health reasons.
The meeting was also expected to take stock of the current political situation and discuss plans for Assembly elections in other states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur next year.
The meeting is significant as the Winter Session of Parliament is starting from 16 November and the Congress will finalise its strategy for the session.
There have been repeated suggestions that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi should take over the reins of the party from his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the CWC is likely to take a call on that issue today as well.
--With ANI inputs
First published: 7 November 2016, 1:15 IST