BJP hits back at Rahul, calls him a “lying machine”

New Delhi

BJP denounced Rahul Gandhi for his attack on the government in the Lok Sabha today, saying it was “full of drama but lacked in content”, while calling the Congress vice president a “lying machine” and a “non-serious, part-time politician”.

The party found fault with Gandhi’s attack on the government over lack of jobs, JNU row and corruption and claimed the Modi government had created 115 per cent more employment annually than the previous UPA government.

“Besides this, over 2.28 crore people have benefited from Mudra bank loans meant for their self-employment. Our government has linked MNREGA with building irrigation facilities while in Congress rule it was about creating and filling up ditches.

“Rahul Gandhi is a lying machine and his claims in Parliament today were devoid of facts. His speech was full of drama but lacked content,” BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

He said it was ironical that Gandhi was speaking about corruption on a day when the House debated alleged money laundering involving the son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram. “Rahul Gandhi is himself out on bail in a corruption case of Rs 5000 crore,” he said, referring to National Herald case.

Hitting back at his “fair and lovely scheme” jibe at the government, the BJP leader said no amount of “fair and lovely” comments will clean up the black deeds of Congress and called him a “non-serious, part-time” politician.

He said Gandhi went to JNU to support “anti-national” voices and was now accusing the government of “suppressing” dissent. “Does he mean we should also raise anti-national voices on campus?”

The Modi government had succeeded in controlling prices of edible commodities like pulses and was working to solve the issues facing the country.

“It is Congress which has become an obstruction to our developmental work,” he said, recalling that Gandhi had faced loud disagreements from students at a Bengalore college for his criticism of the government.

Rajnath refutes Rahul’s claim on Naga accord

New Delhi

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today refuted Rahul Gandhi’s claim that he was not informed before signing a peace pact with Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM saying the Congress Vice-President’s statement was “completely false and baseless” and he “misled” the Parliament.

“Rahul Gandhi’s statement on Naga peace accord in Lok Sabha today is completely false and baseless. I had several rounds of consultations with the PM on Naga peace process. I strongly condemn Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to mislead the House,” Singh tweeted.

The Home Minister’s strong reaction came hours after Rahul told the Lok Sabha that Singh was not aware of Naga peace accord which was signed in August 2015 in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rahul Gandhi today launched a stinging attack in the Lok Sabha on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of releasing Pakistan from a small “cage” in which it was put after the 26/11 attacks by his sudden visit to Lahore and bringing a “fair and lovely” scheme to launder black money.

He alleged that Modi did not listen to anyone’s opinion, including his ministers and party MPs, on issues like his visit to Pakistan and the Naga accord.

How much Rahul knows, when will he know: Jaitley

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today raised doubts about “maturity” of Congress vice president and said the more he hears him, the more he wonders “how much does he know and when will he know.”

In a facebook post in response to Gandhi’s charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hardly consulted senior ministers, Jaitley said Modi not only works hard and involves himself in the functioning of the various departments of the government but also inspires his team to work harder.

“The Prime Minister should be the natural leader of the party and the Government. In the NDA it is so. The UPA was quite different. The Prime Minister is to lead by example,” he said.

Jaitley said all ministers including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and he himself were responsible for each important decision taken by their departments.

“We do not by-pass the Prime Minister who is always available for consultation and guidance,” he said.

He was reacting to Gandhi’s claim that Swaraj was not consulted on the Pakistan policy, Rajnath Singh was unaware of the Nagaland accord and Jaitley did not know of the Budget proposals.

Finance Minister said Gandhi’ s views are “shaped” by the environment of a political party which has evolved into a “crowd around a family”.

“The UPA model of governance was that if a person outside the family is the Prime Minister, he should be reduced to being a figure-head. Given a choice between a ‘hands-on’ Prime Minister or a ‘nominal’ head, I would unhesitatingly choose the former,” he said.

Taunting Gandhi, Jaitley said, “As one evolves from a young to a middle-aged one, we certainly expect a certain level of maturity. The more I hear Shri Rahul Gandhi, the more I start wondering ‘how much does he know when will he know’.

In the post titled ‘How much does he know when will he know’, the minister went on to say that after hearing Gandhi, “I think India has made the right choice between the Prime Minister who leads the Government and a Prime Minister who is merely implementing decisions taken elsewhere.”

PTI