BJP terms Oppn meet as Rahul Gandhi’s ‘flop show’

Mocking the Congress-led meet of eight parties against demonetisation, BJP on Tuesday said it was Rahul Gandhi’s “flop show” and that the bubble of opposition unity had burst before it could even take off.

Noting that only eight of the 16 parties which had joined hands in Parliament against the Modi government over note ban were present on Tuesday, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took potshots at Rahul, saying it was increasingly becoming clear that he lacked “maturity and gravitas” and that he would soon be left alone to “hurl abuses without substance”.

Prasad told a press conference that the opposition’s exercise was “laughable” as, he said, those who were behind scams like 2G spectrum, Saradha chit fund and coal block allocations had come together to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We all saw Rahul Gandhi’s flop show today (Tuesday).

Those who claimed about opposition unity could merely bring together eight of the 16 parties. Soon they will be reduced to four. Then Rahul Gandhi will be left on his own...to hurl abuses without substance. The bubble of opposition unity has burst before it could take off,” he said.

The senior BJP leader kept Congress and Rahul Gandhi in his line of fire and skipped any mention of TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a staunch critic of the government’s demonetisation move and again attacked Modi in Tuesday’s exercise.

Noting that earlier parties would work together to put up a joint front against Congress, he said the opposition’s press conference on Tuesday was a victory for BJP and loss for Congress as it showed that as the saffron party has emerged as the centre of polity now.

Rahul and his party have been the biggest patron of corruption, Prasad alleged, saying that he kept quiet during the UPA government when several scams happened. 

Noting that she did not deny the deposits in the BSP’s account, he asked, “It raises a bigger question. Is it a donation or money conversion exercise?” 

Ram Vilas Paswan, a prominent dalit face in the ruling NDA, came down heavily on Mayawati, saying her origin does not give her a “licence” to indulge in corruption and that she should let the law take its own course.

“My party LJP works for Dalits. We have six Lok Sabha members and the total money in LJP’s bank account is Rs 1,03,198. Being a daughter of a dalit does not give you licence to indulge in corruption. She must let law take its course and let authorities probe her party’s account,” he told reporters in the national capital.