BJP ATTACKS RAHUL FOR KEEPING MUM ON POLICY PARALYSIS

NEW DELHI: Stung by the Congress vice president’s attacks on its prime ministerial candidate, the BJP on Saturday dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s interview as a farce, questioned his “leadership qualities” and wondered why he never spoke about the Congress “keeping its own Prime Minister without power”.

“The Congress-led government will be known for corruption, inflation and policy paralysis. Rahul was silent on these issues. He talked about empowering people, but a recent book has revealed that the Congress did not give powers even to its own PM (Manmohan Singh),” BJP’s media convenor Shrikant Sharma said, reacting to Gandhi’s interview telecast on Headlines Today. Sharma said Rahul’s silence on the key issues of corruption and inflation, the “hallmark” of the decade-old UPA government, was intriguing.

“What are his leadership qualities? Is it about keeping people (in Amethi) absolutely immersed in darkness? He speaks about women empowerment but did nothing to open up colleges,” BJP vice president Smriti Irani, who is contesting against Gandhi in Amethi, said.

Referring to Gandhi’s speeches in the recent past, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the Congress needed to reply to India’s people on its failures in the past decade since questions were being raised on its failures to control prices, provide jobs and manage the economy.

“Rahul is asking about (LK) Advani and (Gautam) Adani, I want to ask about Adani and (Robert) Vadra,” she said, referring to a picture of Adani and Vadra published in a Gujarati newspaper.