BJP hits back at Rahul; says Congress ran 'loot ki sarkar'

Reacting sharply to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday attacked the opposition party saying those who had led a "loot ki sarkar" for 10 years have no right to question the "well-meaning" NDA government now at the Centre.

Launching an all-out attack on Rahul, BJP charged that while his speech in Parliament on Monday was a "scripted" one, his anger was "manufactured" and does not make him a "kisan" leader.

The ruling party said it was less about the land acquisition Bill and more about Rahul's "acquisition" by Congress after his return from a long break.

BJP also dubbed the Congress's 'Kisan rally' on Sunday as a "Rahul Bachao rally" and said that the opposition party's happiness on its vice president's return may prove short-lived as he may go on leave again.

"Rahul had the audacity of calling this government a "suit-boot" government. The people who have been running the "loot ki sarkar" for last 10 years have no right to question the well-meaning government at the Centre today.

"It was a loot and suitcase government that Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were running," said BJP spokesperson Samvit Patra.

In a dig at Congress, he congratulated the party saying its vice president had spoken for the third time in Parliament after 11 years.

"But scripted speeches and manufactured anger does not make one a leader, and that too a kisan leader," he said.

Patra said that although Congress was happy that at least Rahul has been "acquired", "it would be too early for it to be happy as he may soon be absent again".

"As far as the Kisan rally is concerned, it was nothing but a 'Rahul Bachao rally'," he added.

The BJP leader said that Congress is today "frustrated" due to the achievements of the Narednra Modi government in the last 10 months and their leader was resorting to "rhetoric" in Parliament.

On Rahul's advise to the prime minister that he should go to the villages to meet farmers, Patra said that Modi hails from a poor background and knows about poverty much more than those giving him suggestions, like the Congress vice president or the scions of the Scindia, Gogoi and Hooda dynasties.

When Rahul was speaking in Parliament, Patra said, he was surrounded by the Scindias, the Gogois and the Hoodas.

"The wall of dynasty was trying to protect Rahul. The princes of Congress are advising the prime minister. You do not understand what poverty is and only a tea-seller can understand this as he has been through poverty all along before reaching here," he said.

The BJP spokesperson further charged that the Congress cannot digest the fact that an ordinary man can become the prime minister of this country.

"They always want only sycophants to rise in life. That is why their leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that never can a 'chai-wallah' become the prime minister. This is the psyche of Congress. And, now, when a simple man like Modi has become prime minister, you can see the frustration of the princes of Congress party," he said.

Taking a pot shot at Rahul for his nearly 56-day absence, Patra said, "So please, those who went on a futile search for Kalawati in foreign land, do not preach to us about what we should be doing."

He said that NDA ministers are relentlessly going to the farmers and that is why the government has announced enhanced compensation for crops destroyed in the hailstorm and unseasonal rain.

"We have done everything to help the farmers, but Rahul does not believe in facts. That is the reason why you were playing to rhetoric yesterday in Parliament when you said 'Your Prime Minister' time and again.

"They are not able to realise that Modi is the prime minister of the country. This shows the mindset of Congress. That Congress members have not yet accepted the fact that Modi has become the prime minister shows nothing but Congress's frustration," he said.

Rahul had on Monday sharpened his attack on Modi, accusing his "suit-boot" government of being pro-industrialist and ignoring the plight of farmers and farm labourers.

In the second attack after his farmers' rally speech, Rahul made repeated jibes at the Modi government as he played on expressions such as "ache din (good days) government" and "suit-boot ki sarkar".