Rahul Gandhi's speech 'rhetoric of loser': Sitharaman

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday dubbed Congress President Rahul Gandhi's speech at Congress' plenary session the "rhetoric of a loser".

She also questioned Rahul Gandhi's Pandava-Kaurava analogy, and accused the Congress of mocking Hindu rituals.

"Rahul Gandhi's speech sounds like rhetoric of loser devoid of substance. But although devoid of substance, will counter some points....

"Who are Pandavs, who are Kauravas... It (the Congress) is a party that chooses to mock Hindus and Hindu rituals," she said.

Sitharaman also said that the Congress was responsible of anti-Sikh riots 1984, and accused the party of corruption.

"This is a party which had to be thrown out of power because they were involved in Rs 12 lakh crore corruption," she said.

Sitharaman also called Gandhi's remarks "a light hearted comment that goes abysmally low in making mockery".

Slamming Gandhi for his comments on recent loss suffered by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, she said: "Let us not miss the point... Congress (candidates) lost their deposits in these places."

Gandhi, while addressing the Congress's plenary session here on Sunday, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not fighting corruption but was "corruption himself" and under him, the country is controlled by "corrupt and powerful".

Gandhi also equated the BJP and RSS with the "Kauravas" of the Hindu epic Mahabarata, saying they were designed to "fight for power".

--IANS

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