New Delhi. Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnav and Kiren Rijiju on Monday accused Rahul Gandhi of lowering the dignity of the responsible post of Leader of Opposition by giving a ‘highly irresponsible speech’ in the Lok Sabha. They also accused Gandhi of ‘severely insulting’ Hindus by allegedly linking them to violence and spreading lies. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the Congress has a history of insulting Hindus. During this, he cited the alleged ‘terrorism’ related sarcasm made by former Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde regarding religion.
Trivedi said Gandhi did not take oath as an MP in the name of God this time. He asked, “In 2014, he took oath in the name of ‘Ishwar’ in Hindi. What has changed since 2014?” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has challenged several claims made in Gandhi’s speech in the House and has sought action from the Lok Sabha Speaker.
Criticising Gandhi’s allegations regarding the ‘Agneepath Yojana’ and compensation to residents during the development projects in Ayodhya, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said he will have to prove his point or apologise.
Vaishnav said local shopkeepers and others were given compensation of over Rs 1,253 crore and helped in their rehabilitation.
Rijiju said that Home Minister Amit Shah also urged Speaker Birla in the House to get the claims made by Gandhi verified as he cannot escape by making false claims. Railway, IT and Electronics and Information and Broadcasting Minister Vaishnaw said that BJP leaders like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj were the Leader of Opposition at different times and made this post more responsible and serious.