What did Rahul do to stop the 'elephant': BJP

Stung by Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's criticism of its senior leaders L K Advani and Narendra Modi on the issue of corruption, the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back saying he cannot see corruption at the Centre and has accepted defeat in Uttar Pradesh before the polls. 

"Neither the BJP nor corruption in Congress governments are visible to Rahul Gandhi. Those who are involved only with themselves and their family cannot see others. Rahul Gandhi always says 'I' will change this, 'my' party, 'my' family. He is busy praising himself," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Earlier, at a press interaction in Varanasi, Gandhi had hit out at the BJP on the issue of corruption and the Lokpal Bill. The Congress leader said there is corruption in BJP governments in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand,  Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab while Advani is taking out yatras across various states.

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In reply to a question, Gandhi also said that when he proposed that the Lokpal be given Constitutional status, the opposition laughed at it. Gandhi attacked Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi too, saying he had not allowed a Lokayukta to be appointed in his state.

Taking on Gandhi, the BJP said he has accepted defeat in UP even before the polls are over.  "Rahul has accepted that his party is fighting the polls to make Congress stand on its feet. In Delhi, the Congress government stands on the feet of BSP and SP.

Monday's statement by Rahul belies all earlier claims by the Congress that it has been revived since the 2009 General elections. Congress is still on its crutches in UP," Hussain said.

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Meanwhile, BJP leader Rajnath Singh asked that if Rahul knew that Bahujan Samaj Party's "elephant was eating money" what steps did he take to check the practice?

"I want to know from Rahul, when he came to know that the elephant (BSP symbol) was eating money ... And what he (Rahul) did to check the practice," asked Singh while addressing an election meet in Ambedkar Nagar.

On January 19, Rahul had said in a UP rally that funds sent by the Centre for development of the state were "eaten up" by the magic elephant in Lucknow.

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"Whatever money is being sent from the Centre, the magic elephant in Lucknow eats it up. It never reaches the beneficiaries," he told a rally in Hamirpur Assembly constituency. Taking pot-shots on both BSP and Congress, Singh said that it was difficult to tell which party is most corrupt and both the state and Central governments were mired in corruption cases.

Singh said that on one hand Rahul was claiming to change the face of the state in five years, on the other he was mum on the issue of rising prices, which had adversely affected common man.

"It's irony that Rahul is mum on important issue of rising prices, he said, adding that SP and BSP were also not concerned with the issue as they were supporting Congress at the Centre," Singh said.

The former UP chief minister said that the BSP, which catapulted itself to power on issues of crime and corruption did nothing to tackle them in its regime. He alleged that law and order had gone from bad to worse in BSP regime.