LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were in Uttar Pradesh on the same day for the second time on the trot on Thursday exchanging barbs and countering each other.
Speaking in his constituency, Varanasi, a day after Rahul accused him of taking bribe from Sahara, Modi said he was happy that the young leader was evolving and “learning to speak up” and the latter hit back saying the prime minister was free to mock him but should answer his questions about the bribe money he allegedly received while he was Gujrat chief minister.
“He had promised an earthquake. It’s good that he has started speaking now the fear and possibility of any jolt is no more there,” Modi said at Banaras Hindu University.
Replying to the jibe, the Congress leader, addressing a rally in Bahraich, invoked Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. “Har ek baat pe kahte ho tum ki tu kya hai, Tumhi kaho ki yeh andaaz-e-guftgu kya hai” (You always question my indentity. Is this the way to talk?).
The prime minister called demonetisation a huge cleanliness drive and expressed his anguish over the manner Opposition parties had reacted to it, comparing their stalling of Parliament proceedings to “firing at the borders by Pakistan in a bid to provide cover to infiltrators”.“I had never imagined that political leader can have the audacity to stand by the corrupt and support them in open,” the prime minister said.
Reacting to the charge, BSP supremo Mayawait said, “Comparing his opponents with Pakistan is indecent and condemnable... all this goes on to show his frustration,
However, the Congress leader said the move was against the interests of the poor, deprived and the middle class of society. He went on to say Modi banned high-value notes to help the “50 families who were in the possession of all the wealth”. “They had taken huge loans of over `8 lakh crore from banks. It was becoming difficult for them to repay the loans, so the prime minister helped them by demonetising the currency notes,” he said.
Targeting his predecessor Manmohan Singh, who had dubbed the notes ban as “organised loot and legalised plunder”, Modi raked up the “legacy of last 70 years that he had inherited”.
If a former prime minister says 50 per cent of the population was poor and that it won’t be easy for them to adopt new technology, “is it a reflection of his government’s performance or mine?” he asked.
“When they say large parts of the country did not get access to education, whose report card are they giving?”he said.
The Congress said his party also wanted to rid the country of corruption. “But the prime minister should also clear the air over the promises he had made to people over the creation of jobs, crediting `15 lakh to everyone’s account, awarding proper support prices to farmers” he said.