BJP on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of blaming Indian democracy and its institutions for the Congress’ repeated electoral defeats under his leadership and the ongoing probe by the Enforcement Directorate against him in the National Herald case.
Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad addressing the press shortly after Mr Gandhi’s own presser before the Congress’ protest march from Parliament, said that the Opposition leader had made “shameful and irresponsible” comments. “Stop demeaning the institutions of India to safeguard your corruption and misdeeds. If people don’t listen to you why are you blaming us,” said Mr Prasad.
“If people saw dictatorship, it was during Emergency when people, including opposition leaders and editors, were jailed, judges superseded and censorship imposed. Indira Gandhi had then spoken about having a ‘committed judiciary’,” he said. Mr Gandhi had earlier alleged that India was witnessing the “death of democracy” .
Mr Prasad asked Mr Gandhi as to why “blame democracy when people of India reject you with repeated regularity”. He also queried whether there was any internal democracy within the Congress, a party, he said that had some “good leaders” but was really all about the Gandhi family.
“Rahul Gandhi had made all kind of allegations against Prime Minister Modi during the 2019 polls as well but people elected him with a bigger mandate,” he said.
Mr Prasad said Mr Gandhi “must answer as to how Young Indian, a firm in which the two Gandhis have 76 per cent stake, allegedly acquired National Herald’s assets worth over ₹5,000 crore with the investment of only ₹5 lakh”.
“The judiciary refused to quash charges against him and others in the case, and he is now blaming institutions,” Mr Prasad added. Rahul Gandhi will have to face consequences for what he has done, Mr Prasad said.
The government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been taking strong measures against corruption, and the Congress and the system around it are rattled because democracy has become synonymous with financial irregularities when the opposition party was in power, he alleged.
