Rahul Gandhi calls BJP manifesto 'short sighted and arrogant'

A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party released its 'Sankalp Patra' or manifesto for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi criticised the same, calling it the "voice of an isolated man". He also termed the manifesto "short-sighted and arrogant".

"The Congress manifesto was created through discussion. The voice of over a million Indian people, it is wise and powerful. The BJP manifesto was created in a closed room. The voice of an isolated man, it is short-sighted and arrogant," Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday.

At the launch of the manifesto on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had remarked that people sitting in AC rooms cannot decide on poverty.

BJP president Amit Shah had claimed that they "took suggestions from six crore people while making the sankalp patra".

"When we came to power in 2014, our country was ranked as an 11th major economy. Today, it stands as the 5th major economy," he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The manifesto has not been prepared with the mindset of the 'tukde tukde gang', instead it has been prepared with rationality and discussions with a committee headed by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh."

Jaitley said that this manifesto has been made under conditions that are different from that of 2014.

"There was corruption in 2014 and the government was paralysed. Today the environment is entirely different and this (new) government will be built on the good work done in the last five years," he said expressing confidence in his party coming back to power.