Rahul should stop giving statements against NPR, focus on states where Congress is in power: Prakash Javadekar

BJP on Friday urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to stop giving misleading comments over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) and focus on the states where his party is in power instead.

"Rahul Gandhi should stop giving nonsensical statements (against NPR, NRC) and should instead focus on states where his party is in power. In Rajasthan, where there is a Congress government, in a single hospital 77 children have died in one month," Javadekar said at a press conference here.

The Union Minister said this in response to the statements issued earlier today by the Congress leader.

Gandhi had termed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) as an attack on the poor people of the country and said that it was akin to taxing them.

Talking to reporters in Chhattisgarh, the Congress leader said, "Whether it is NRC and NPR, it is a tax on poor people of the country. Demonetisation was a tax on poor people of the country. This too is the same thing. Go to the officer...poor people will go...show your papers...give bribe if your name is slightly wrong. Crores of money will go from the poor people to the same 15 people."

Justifying the NPR exercise, Javadekar said that the Congress was opposed to the exercise as it would end corruption in the country, which he alleged the Opposition did not like.

"They are opposing NPR because NPR and Aadhar combination will lead to the identification of beneficiaries, which will end corruption. Rajiv Gandhi earlier said that I send Rs 100 but the poor get Rs 15 only, it was the Congressmen who used to pocket the money in between but today when Narendra Modi sends Rs 100 they get the full amount. That's the difference we have brought to the nation," Javadekar said.

"People are appreciating NPR all over the country, only a few people and Congress are opposing it but they are giving absurd reasons for it," he added.