Venkaiah Naidu hits back at Congress, asks Rahul Gandhi to come clean on black money

New Delhi: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu hit back at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, asking him to come clean on whether there is black money in the country and also need to take steps against it. [caption id=“attachment_2539260” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo. Image courtesy: AFP[/caption] Speaking to reporters, Naidu said it is only appropriate that the issue of black money, corruption, etc are haunting the opposition party as it celebrated ‘Congress Foundation Day’. He said that even Rahul Gandhi, by his smile and body language, has “indicated” that there is not much of black money in the country. “I would like Rahul_ji_ to muster courage and openly say so, if his party’s assessment is that there is not much of black money in our economy,” the Union information and broadcasting and urban development minister said. Everyone knows the close link between black money and corruption, Naidu said, adding that if Congress says there is no black money in our economy, obviously, there is no place for corruption in our system. “Is this the stand of the Congress?” he asked. Naidu said Congress is panicking and trying to create confusion. He claimed that Congress is worried that nobody was was taking Rahul seriously, be it the people, opposition leaders or its partymen. That is why opposition leaders distanced themselves from the meeting, Naidu said. Naidu said that Congress and the Communists are disappointed as the people have continued to support the crackdown on black money. Only some political parties which have been beneficiaries of the loot appear to be shaken, he claimed. Rahul Gandhi had earlier continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, while also accusing him of practising politics of “fear and anger”.