Rahul's allegation against PM lowers political discourse: Meghwal

Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday said that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's allegation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lowered the level of political discourse.

"The speech given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has nothing to do with Rahul Gandhi. It was only his statement that if he speaks, then an earthquake will occur, and what Modiji has said is that Rahul Gandhi has said what he wanted to say, so, there is no possibility of any earthquake," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi has touched upon that aspect which the Supreme Court has already rejected. This only lowers the level of politics," he added.

The Congress vice-president yesterday accused Prime Minister Modi of having taken money from the Sahara and Birla business groups when he was chief minister of Gujarat and demanded an independent inquiry into the matter.

Gandhi made this assertion in Prime Minister Modi's native district of Mehsana in Gujarat just days after he said that he had proof of "personal corruption" against the latter.

Gandhi alleged that the Sahara Group had paid Rs.40 crore, while the Birla Group had paid Rs.12 crore to Prime Minister Modi, claiming his charges were based on documents recovered during raids on the companies by the income tax department.