Cong leaders Chavan, Nirupam hit out at Shah over rally jibes

Congress' Maharashtra unit chief Ashok Chavan today called the BJP's rally to mark its 38th Foundation Day as celebrations of a party that had failed on all fronts.

In a statement issued here, Chavan said that the government's policies on economic and social issues, foreign policy, agriculture and internal security had failed.

He claimed that the BJP was bound to lose the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as people wouldn't be fooled by its false promises.

He alleged that 21 ministers in the state government had charges of corruption against them and said it was laughable that BJP president Amit Shah and CM Devendra Fadnavis shared a stage with such ministers and spoke about transparency.

Criticising Shah for questioning the contribution of the Nehru-Gandhi family to the nation, Chavan said that Nehru was imprisoned several times during the freedom struggle while Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi laid down their lives to uphold the sovereignty of the nation.

"Has any leader from the Sangh Parivar sacrificed even his finger for the nation?" he asked.

The Congress' Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam hit out at the BJP for the traffic snarls its rally caused and reminded the ruling party of the orderly manner in which 35,000 farmers marched into the city on March 12.

"Amit Shah wanted to show how indifferent he and his party are to the commuters, students and office-goers of this city. He did not think about how they would suffer due to the show of strength of the BJP," Nirupam said.

Hitting out at Shah for stating that fuel prices were higher during the rule of the Congress-led UPA, Nirupam said that if the BJP were to pass any more circulars on fake news, it should be for the fake claims of its party president.

"Petrol prices never touched Rs 81 during the rule of the UPA. Shah is full of fake claims," Nirupam said.

He termed Shah's use of words like rats and mongoose as unparliamentary, adding that the opposition was as important an arm of democracy as the ruling party and deserved respect.

"Shah says that the opposition is huddling together like the way animals do during a calamity. I agree with one thing, Narendra Modi is a calamity for this country," he said.

"I want to remind Shah that in 1975, leaders of his party and others had got together to form a collective opposition against the ruling Congress. Is he calling those leaders rats and mongoose as well?" he asked.