The Government on Thursday lashed out at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of personal corruption, saying such “absurd allegations” were aimed to “derail” the Government’s development agenda and fight against corruption.
In a similar counter-attack on the Opposition party, the BJP alleged that the UPA Government had favoured business houses with concessions and loans worth over Rs36.5 lakh crore which the Government is working to recover now.
Spearheading the Government’s offensive, Union Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said some people feel threatened as people were drifting away from them following the steps taken by the Modi Government for the empowerment of the poor, without naming Rahul or his party.
To Rahul’s charges of Modi taking money from Birla and Sahara, Naidu said, “In 2013, it was their (Congress-led UPA) Government. What did they doIJ Were they sleepingIJ”
“Now they are trying to divert the attention and bring the Prime Minister into unnecessary controversy. They are trying to derail the momentum, given by (Modi) to the development and fight against corruption by baseless and absurd allegations,” Naidu told reporters here.
The Minister alleged that previous Governments did not do anything for the poor but a “lip service” and said Modi was committed to uplift the poor.
“There are some people who are feeling threatened. They feel the poor people are drifting away from them so they are feeling restlessness and making such comments. let them say,” he said.
From the party’s side, BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma hit back at Rahul’s “pro-rich” jibe against Modi, alleging that the UPA Government had showered business houses with concessions and loans worth over Rs36.5 lakh crore which the Government is working to recover now.
He also rejected the Congress vice-president’s corruption charge against Modi, claiming even the Supreme Court had not taken note of the allegations, earlier levelled by his “political guru” Arvind Kejriwal.
At a Press conference soon after Rahul’s rally in Uttar Pradesh, Sharma said these allegations against Modi date back to 2013 when the Congress v-p was “super Prime Minister” and the then UPA Government could find nothing despite agencies like CBI, ED and I-T working under it.
Sharma cited RBI figures released soon after the BJP came to power in 2014 to claim that debts of Gautam Adani, Anil Ambani, Shashi and Ravi Ruia, and Sunil Mittal were Rs72,632 crore, Rs1.13 lakh cr, Rs98,412 cr and Rs57,744 cr respectively.
“Rahul Gandhi has been accusing us of being pro-corporate. He should tell people why and on whose behest the UPA Government let these industrialists run so much of debt. It showered business houses with concessions and loans running into Rs36.5 lakh crore. All these debts Modi is trying to recover,” Sharma said.
He also alleged that the UPA Government ensured that liquor baron Vijay Mallya was given a loan of Rs1,500 crore despite having defaulted on bank payments.
He said It has become a habit of Rahul Gandhi to level “thoughtless” allegations and he had earlier accused Modi of spying on him when police visited him for security details as he is a SPG protectee, Sharma said.