The Congress is using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s old speeches to attack his government on almost every issue, from fuel prices to the coal shortage that has triggered a power crisis in swathes of the country.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday posted a compilation of clippings from Modi’s old speeches along with this tweet: “Pradhanmantriji ke wadon aur iradon ke beech ka tar to hamesha se hi kata tha. Modiji, iss bijli sankat mein aap apni nakaami ke liye kise dosh denge? Nehruji ko? Rajya sarkaron ko? Ya fir janata ko hi (Modi’s promises and intentions always had a disconnect. Modiji, in this power crisis, who will you blame for your own failures? Nehru? The state governments? Or the people themselves)?”

Video clippings posted with this tweet contained lofty claims by Modi on power generation.

In 2015, Modi had said: “In 2022, when India celebrates the 75th anniversary of Independence, people living in the remotest villages will receive electricity for 24 hours (a day).”

Another video posted by Rahul shows Modi saying in 2017: “Do you now see such breaking news, that there is coal shortage, there is no power supply? No, you haven’t. Friends, the country has left power crises behind and is becoming power surplus.”

On Saturday, some 16 states were grappling with massive shutdowns caused by coal shortages. While villages in some states are suffering power cuts for 10 to 15 hours a day, even big cities and industries have been affected.

The Congress had on Friday said that power plants with a collective capacity to produce 72,074MW of electricity had been shut down. Authorities in Delhi expressed fear on Saturday that even the Metro railway and hospitals will not get electricity if the situation didn’t improve immediately.

The Centre, which denies any coal shortage, has suspended 753 train trips to facilitate the movement of goods trains carrying coal to power plants.

A video posted by the Congress on Saturday showed Modi saying in 2014: “They (the Congress) have committed so much corruption that the country has acquired an image of ‘Scam India’. I will work hard and turn it into ‘Skill India’. My country will not lag behind China.”

The Congress then went on to recall that the workforce had shrunk in India and unemployment peaked. “The situation is so bad that over 45 crore people have stopped looking for jobs,” the party alleged.

The Congress has posted several videos on social media in a “Kya Hua Tera Wada (What Happened to Your Promises)” series, attacking Modi over subjects like back money, corruption and price rise.

With Modi’s boast in 2014 about bringing back black money from abroad, the Congress has juxtaposed reports claiming a jump in the black money stashed in foreign banks from Rs 6,600 crore to Rs 20,700 crore.

On the rise in prices, particularly of petroleum products, and the fall of the rupee, too, the Congress has tried to corner Modi with his own past speeches and messages.

As Gujarat chief minister, Modi had gone hammer and tongs for the “Delhi sultanate” when petrol prices crossed Rs 60 a litre during Manmohan Singh’s tenure. However, petrol prices are above Rs 110 in much of India now.

Videos of Modi ridiculing Manmohan by asking which would plunge lower – the government’s prestige or the rupee – have been circulated widely by the Congress. While one dollar was equivalent to Rs 62 when Manmohan relinquished office, it is equivalent to Rs 76 now.

At several places, the Congress publicly played an old speech by Modi in which he said: “Petrol ke daam kam huye ki nahi, aise nahin jor se bataiye (Say it aloud, have petrol prices fallen or not)?”