Continuing with his direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday threatened to “reveal” the truth behind the Centre’s denomination move which would create “earthquake in the House”, prompting the BJP to hit back saying those who were at the “epicentre” of scams for the last 60 years are now talking about quakes.
Rahul also accused the Government of not allowing him to speak in Parliament on demonetisation, which he dubbed as the “biggest scam”.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Rahul said that his party wants debate on demonetisation so that the truth can come to the fore, but the Government is running away from it. He asserted that the Prime Minister should come to the House so that it can be discussed “what demonetisation is, who has benefited from this decision and what it means for whom”. The Government had initially proposed debate on demonetisation to which his party agreed but then the Government backtracked, he alleged.
Rahul said when he gets a chance to speak about demonetisation in the House, “the Prime Minister will not be able to even sit there”. “If they allow me to speak in Parliament, you will see an earthquake,” stated the Gandhi scion inviting sharp reactions from BJP leaders and the Government, and some even taking a swipe at him.
Rahul was speaking after his party announced in the lok Sabha that it was ready to debate the issue but the Government demanded that it first apologise to the people of the country for stalling Parliament proceedings for 16 days.
“The PM is giving speeches across the country but is afraid of coming to the lok Sabha and is not willing to sit there,” Rahul said and asked what could be the reason for this “nervousness”. “Demonetisation is the biggest scam in the history of India.... I want to speak in the lok Sabha. I will tell everything there,” he said.
Rahul said initially the Government spoke about black money, then moved to counterfeit currency and then again to a cashless society campaign. He said, “I want to tell about the biggest scam committed by Narendra Modi single handedly” and present the “voice of people, specially the poor, who have suffered due to this move”.
The BJP ridiculed the Congress vice-president and said he is best known for political “quackery”, not quakes.
With earthquake being invoked metaphorically by the rival parties in an escalation of exchanges on note ban, BJP leader Sambit Patra scoffed at Rahul, saying that those who were at the “epicentre” of scams for the last 60 years are now talking about earthquakes.
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said may this quake happen when we are not present in Parliament. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Our party is not afraid of him or his speeches, we are ready to listen to him but he should not run away when we respond... Actually these days Mr Rahul Gandhi is annoyed his party is losing everywhere especially after he started handling affairs of the party.”
“Rahulji thinks too highly about his oratory skills and he himself knows how much his speeches appeal... As far as tremors are concerned. I think when he speaks there are tremors within the Congress not outside,” Union Minister Smriti Irani said.