Rahul is taking PM Modi's name to remain in news: Venkaiah Naidu

Bengaluru: Hitting out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his “suit boot” remarks against Narendra Modi, Union Minister M Venkaiah Nadu on Sunday termed it as “childish and immature” and accused him of taking the name of Prime Minister to remain in the news. Naidu also sought to turn the tables against Gandhi, saying Rahul’s grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru and father Rajiv Gandhi too had used the “suit boot” attire. “….now he (Rahul) is also talking about suit boot (suit boot ki sarkar), forgetting his grandfather used to wear suit boot, forgetting his father used to wear suit boot. Are you criticising your grandfather and father? Are you ridiculing them?” the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs asked. Attacking the Congress leader for his suit-boot jibe made at an election rally in Bihar, Naidu said: “Please think before you speak, there should be some maturity in what you speak. Don’t be childish and immature. Making such cheap comments against the Prime Minister of the country- that too on a personal dress….” [caption id=“attachment_2432170” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rahul Gandhi. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost[/caption] Pointing out that the suit presented to the Prime Minister was auctioned and the money was used for public purpose, he said “….I don’t know who is writing his script, who is writing the speech, but they are misleading him.” Launching the Congress campaign in assembly poll-bound Bihar, Rahul Gandhi had yesterday raked up the “suit boot ki sarkar” jibe to target the Modi government, warning people that they would lose their land and livelihood if NDA came to power in the state. Painting Modi and BJP-led NDA as a ‘club of rich’, he had said “While the Mahatma shed his suit and donned a dhoti as he led the poor farmers, Modi who claimed to have started as a chaiwala (tea seller) started wearing Rs 15 lakh suit after becoming Prime Minister.” When a reporter persisted with the issue, Naidu said “….we need not focus on him. He is trying to take the name of the Prime Minister, so that he is in the news…” Slamming the Congress, he said it was still unable to reconcile with the reality and continuing its ‘disinformation’ campaign against the government. “Words for the poor and deeds for the rich had been policy of the Congress over the years,” he added. Referring to various social security schemes launched by the Centre, Naidu said it would unveil Mudra Yojana - credit for the ordinary small traders, street vendors and unemployed youth on 25 September. Stating that Rahul Gandhi and Congress were saying that they won’t allow even a inch of land to be acquired, he said “I would like to know what is the scale of the inch for Mr Rahul Gandhi?” Accusing Congress governments of “forceful” acquisition of lakhs of acres of land, he challenged its leaders to explain as to how they allowed their governments to acquire and loot the land of farmers to the tune of nearly 80,000 acres in one state (Haryana). He dared the Congress and its leaders holding a rally on Sunday on the land bill to explain on this “if they have guts.” Naidu also said allegations made against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had boomeranged on the Congress and its leaders as they could not answer in Parliament as to why they allowed Lalit Modi to flee the country. “….every allegations they are making is boomeranging on them. This spit and run practice is not going to help Congress party,” he said. Sounding confident of party’s victory in Bihar polls, Naidu said “On one hand Congress leader says we should not protect convicted, corrupt people while on the other hand you have aligned with RJD (Rashtreeya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav).” “There is a great combination in Bihar, where all the ‘Cs’ have come together. The Casteist, the Corrupt, the Communal, the Convicted- all of them have joined together, this is their grand alliance. They are going to be rejected by the people,” he added. Responding to a question on West Bengal government releasing files related to Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Naidu said “The state government should have talked to the centre also, but anyhow they have done it. “I don’t want to make any comment. It should not be politicized. Everybody in the country is interested to know the truth about what happened to Netaji- including me,” he added. “What will be its implications on the international arena that has to be studied. That is under study of the government of India,” he said. PTI