BJP calls Patna show an ‘apmaan’ rally

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

Launching a scathing attack against Congress president Sonia Gandhi who today shared dais with Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar at a grand alliance rally in Patna, the BJP accused her of “telling lies” to attack BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said “promoters of politics of family rule, opportunism and corruption” had come together to target BJP, Retaliating against Gandhi’s attack against the Modi government for “diluting” MNREGA and its Pakistan policy, Prasad dubbed the grand alliance’s ‘Swabhiman’ rally as “apman rally”.

He said while the whole world had acknowledged India’s tough stand on terrorism, Gandhi was uttering “lies” while her son — Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi — visited border to question the Centre instead of Pakistan. “The promoters of family rule, opportunism and corruption were today at one platform... Sonia Gandhi, you should have shown some shame. You told lies on Pakistan,” Prasad said.

Under the BJP government, allocation to MNREGA had been increased by Rs 5000 crore and it was not diluted as alleged by Gandhi, he said.

Attacking Gandhi for sharing dais with the RJD chief, a convict in a fodder scam case, Prasad called her praising Lalu Prasad’s rule a “cruel joke” and an “insult” of people Bihar.

Comparing the opposition rally with the ones held by the Prime Minister, Prasad called it a “total failure”. He also attacked Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for drawing a comparison between himself and Chandragupta Maurya and Samrat Ashok and Jayaprakash Narayan. Prasad said Kumar thinks “he is Bihar” and “Bihar is him”. In a obvious reference to various speakers reaching out to different various castes, Prasad also accused grand alliance’ leaders of promoting casteism while the BJP-led NDA believed “in taking everybody along”.