Senior BJP leader and Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman denied the series of accusations made by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and asserted that his speech was the “rhetoric of loser, devoid of substance.”
Rahul Gandhi, in his speech, called the BJP ‘Kauravas’ and Congress ‘Pandavas’, to which she said that under the Congress party’s rule emergency was imposed, anti-Sikh riots took place and corruption worth crores took place and stated that such a party does not deserve to call itself ‘Pandavas.’
She went on to accuse Gandhi of insulting Hindus with his reference to religion and his party of being anti-technology for its insistence on a return to ballot paper as well.
Sitharaman also referred to Gandhi's remarks on party chief Amit Shah, she said, “It is astonishing that the Congress president chooses to name the president of BJP and says he is a murder accused. He has been cleared by a court. The charge does not hold, even though the charge was a complete conspiracy against him. It was a conspiracy based on fraud and you continue to say this.”
On Gandhi's accusations that the government was curbing the independence of the media and judiciary, Sitharaman stated, “Since when has the Congress become protector of judiciary? Do I have to remind how Indira Gandhi treat the judiciary when one verdict went against them? Rajeev Gandhi in 1988 almost brought the bill and during that phase, how many cases were filed against the media? And their son and grandson is talking about press freedom.”
