NewDelhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah. The attack by the Gandhi scion came amid a war of words between the BJP and the Congress over an article published on a website.Taking a jibe over PM Modi’s claim of being a ‘chowkidar’ during the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi asked: “Aap chowkidar thein ya bhaagidaar?”
He also used the word “Shah-zada”, which is often used by the BJP to target the Congress vice president.
This comes a day after Rahul Gandhi had tweeted, “We finally found the only beneficiary of Demonetisation. It’s not the RBI, the poor or the farmers. It’s the Shah-in-Shah of Demo. Jai Amit.”
Union Minister Piyush Goyal asserted that there was no wrongdoing on the part of Jay Shah. He said that the ruling party had gone on the offensive over the issue.
“We are not avoiding the issue. On the contrary, we have gone on the offensive,” he said.
Several opposition parties, including the Congress, had attacked the BJP over the issue. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal had said, “Today, we ask a question to the Prime Minister, the pradhan sevak … Now, what do you have to say about crony capitalism? Will you give direction to the CBI to probe the matter? Will you ask ED to arrest these people.”
Rajya Sabha MP Derek O`Brien and member of West Bengal’s ruling party Trinamool Congress had tweeted, “BJP ever so quick to use CBI/ED against other pol parties. Why not now when it comes to one of their own ;son of their party president.”
Several left party leaders, including CPI’s D Raja, demanded high-level SIT probes monitored by court. CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury claimed that it was the latest in a series of cases of corruption under the Modi government. The Aam Aadmi Party also demanded a criminal probe into the allegations.
Bureau Report
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