Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday accused Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi of supporting anti-nationals in Delhi, PTI reported. She was referring to an event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in February 2016, where a group of students had allegedly raised anti-national slogans.
Irani was addressing a group of tribals in Gujarat’s Dahod district, as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Gujarat Gaurav Yatra. “The entire country had witnessed how Rahul Gandhi rushed to extend his support to those who chanted ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ [India, you will be broken into pieces] in Delhi,” the Union minister for textiles and information and broadcasting was quoted as saying.
She further claimed that the people of Gujarat would not support Gandhi or the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections, which are likely to be held in December. She said Gandhi and his party remember Gujarat only before elections.
Accusing the Congress of stalling the Narmada project in the state for more than 55 years, she said, “Railways did not give permission to lay canals in Rajkot and Anand [during the UPA’s rule]. The Congress did that out of its grudge against the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
Countering Gandhi’s allegation that there has been no real development in Gujarat under the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rule, Irani claimed, “What is his definition of development? In Amethi, which has been a Congress stronghold for the last 50 years, farmers were shot at when they demanded urea.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!