Send me to jail, Rahul dares Modi

Ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, the Congress has sharpened its attack against the Narendra Modi government. The controversy over an affidavit filed by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, in which his nationality was mentioned as “British”, is all set to dampen the government’s efforts to reach out to the Opposition on issues such as Goods and Services Tax Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Youth Congress on the 98th birth anniversary of his grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi said efforts were being made by Modi to throw mud on him.

Gandhi challenged Modi to arrest him using the powers the Prime Minister possessed rather than use his cronies to make false allegations against Opposition leaders. He said he cannot be scared or bogged down by such allegations.

“The BJP and the RSS have been attacking my family for a long time. I have seen them throwing mud at my grandmother, father and even my mother. Modi ji is now the Prime Minister of India. He has all the agencies at his disposal. Send me to jail if I have done anything wrong,” he said.

Gandhi maintained that there was not an iota of truth in the allegations levelled against him. “Modi should stop all this now. He has to understand that he is not in Opposition. He is in the government now,” a combative Amethi MP added.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and a couple of BJP MPs have demanded to the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and the Prime Minister that Gandhi should be dismissed from the Lok Sabha for possessing British citizenship. The Congress had rubbished the the allegations.

The Congress Vice-President said he would not succumb to the BJP’s tactics. “I will continue to expose your false promises. I will continue to fight for the poor, the farmers and the workers,” Gandhi added.

Manmohan attacks govt Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who inaugurated the conclave, reiterated his position that the country’s economy was not safe under the present regime. He said disbanding the Planning Commission was a dangerous decision.

“Economic policy has no sense of direction and this is largely because Planning Commission, with all its deficiencies, was a positive dynamic instrument of steering the country’s economy,” Singh added.

Party President Sonia Gandhi said Indira Gandhi’s life had become more relevant in present times. “Today, when we see the ruling establishment pursuing communal and divisive politics, following policies that favour the few and the powerful at the expense of the weak and the man...Indira ji ’s life and values acquire even greater importance,” she said, adding that the Bihar election result was an indication that the Congress can overcome its crisis through hard work.

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