NEW DELHI, Feb 8 (Agencies) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tore into the Congress and took on predecessor Manmohan Singh who had described demonetisation as "organised loot" and "legalised plunder", saying "the art of bathing in a bathroom with a raincoat on" is known only to the former Prime Minister.

Targeting Singh in the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi said, "For the past 30-35 years, Manmohan Singh ji has been directly associated with financial decisions. There were many scams around him, but his own image remained clean. Dr Sahab is the only person who knows the art of bathing in a bathroom with a raincoat on (Bathroom me raincoat pehenke nahana sirf doctor saab jaante hain)," the PM said.

This remark led to angry protests from the Congress, who eventually walked out of the House. Members of Left, Trinamool Congress and JD(U) also staged a walkout after the reply, complaining that they were unhappy with Modi's statement and wanted to ask questions which was disallowed.

Manmohan Singh refused to react to PM Modi's remarks and said "I do not want to comment."

However, senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram slammed Modi's remarks.

"It is unbecoming of a PM to use such language for a former PM, unbecoming for anyone to say such harsh ugly statement," Chidambaram said.

"We walked out as a mark of protest. No PM in the past made such comments about a former PM," he said.

The Prime Minister attacked the Congress for the walkout and said, "If they breach decorum, they should have courage to listen to the response as well. We have the capacity to pay in the same coin. We do so within the limits of decorum and boundaries of the Constitution."

He went on to add, "The person who held such a high post, used the words 'loot' and 'plunder' in the House. Then they (Congress) also should have thought 50 times (before using those words)."

PM Modi, in his over one-hour speech, focused his attack on Congress and other opposition parties for criticising the demonetisation decision and his push for cash-less economy. He also slammed the Congress for finding faults with lack of proper infrastructure in the country, saying by doing so, they were only presenting their "report card" of 70-year rule.