BJP GIVES POINTBYPOINT REBUTTAL, SAYS SPEECH ‘DEVOID OF SUBSTANCE’

NEW DELHI: Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s remarks at the Congress’s plenary session, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that the party which questioned the “fundamental existence” of Lord Ram today wants to be identified itself with the Pandavas.

Giving a point-by-point rebuttal of Gandhi’s speech, senior BJP leader and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed his address as the “rhetoric of a loser” and “devoid of substance”.

Recalling the two warring sides of the epic Mahabharat, Gandhi on Sunday said the BJP, like the Kauravas, fought for power, while his party, on the lines of the Pandavas, battled for truth.

“The party which questioned the fundamental existence of Shri Ram today wants to identify itself with Pandavas,” Sitharaman said, in an apparent reference to the Congress stand on the issue of construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

“I have never heard of a ‘Congress’ priest and a ‘BJP’ priest, but Rahul Gandhi has narrated a whole story on that, just a way to mock Hindus and Hinduism,” she said.

Earlier on Sunday, Gandhi had narrated a story about his meeting and conversation with priests during his visit to a temple.

Taking on Gandhi over his attempt to link Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi with fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, Sitharaman termed it as “a fake narrative”.

“Mr Gandhi who himself is out on bail in the National Herald case shares a surname with the Father of the Nation, is that a reflection on the Mahatma,” Sitharaman said.

Hitting back at the Congress chief over his attack on Amit Shah, Sitharaman said that it was astonishing that the Congress president chooses to make allegations against the BJP chief even though he has been cleared by a court.

“Gandhi himself is out on bail in Herald case whereas our party president Amit Shahji has been cleared by court,” she said.

The party which questioned the fundamental existence of Shri Ram today wants to identify itself with the Pandavas. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, Defence minister