Nothing wrong in PM Modi's rebuttal statement: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come out in full support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his statement on Rahul Gandhi and said there was nothing wrong in his statement which came in the form of rebuttal to the Congress vice-president's on 'an imminent earthquake if he starts revealing'.

BJP leader Shaina NC on Wednesday agreed with Prime Minister Modi over his statement and remarked that the earthquake which Rahul wanted to bring didn't actually come.

"Rahul Gandhi's old statements should be remembered here in which he claimed that he was to do a revelation and with that, an earthquake can come. And that did not happen. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi commented on that as a rebuttal, I don't think that was anything wrong with that," Shaina told ANI.

She also said the Congress has been for very long in this frame of mind that India got its independence because of the efforts of their party members only.

"But, the truth is that there have been others too who have equally contributed to the national cause."

"Let's not forget the number of freedom fighters who gave up their lives for their country and it goes beyond the number of family members of the Gandhi family. The Gandhi family chooses to believe that they have been the sole contributors post independence," she said.

"There were so many people responsible for ensuring that we get independence. There was Vir Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and others too. The way the Gandhi family has projected it that only the Gandhis have contributed to the independence of the nation is wrong. People know it for better how many people were involved in the fight for independence," she added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi told the parliament that "the earthquake finally took place - the Earth (Dharti Ma) was likely angered."

The comment came hours after an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale hit Uttarakhand with tremors in Delhi and other areas in the North.

The statement was a subtle jibe at Rahul Gandhi, who months ago announced in the parliament that if he spoke, an earthquake will happen.

Later in the day, Rahul Gandhi hit back at the Prime Minister and said through his statement, the latter mocked the tragedy of the earthquake-stricken people in Uttarakhand.