KALPETTA : Union Minister Smriti Irani launched a scathing attack at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as she arrived in Kalpetta to support NDA’s Wayanad candidate and BJP state president K Surendran on Thursday.
The minister joined Surendran as he filed his nomination papers and later took part in a roadshow and addressed the public, a day after Rahul led a massive roadshow in the constituency.
“I come from a constituency (Amethi) that was monopolised by the Nehru family for four decades. But what did they do for Amethi? Even a collectorate office was built there only after the Modi government came to power. The NDA government built over 1 lakh houses and allocated four lakh tap connections for the people of Amethi in the past five years. If Amethi was like their family, as the Nehru family claims, why did they abandon Amethi? Now they call Wayanad their family. But Rahul Gandhi will abandon Wayanad like Amethi,” she said.
Taking a jibe at the CPI, the Congress and the INDIA alliance she said, those who are friends in Delhi are rivals here. “The Congress, the CPM and the Muslim League are contesting as a front in Tamil Nadu, but they are rivals here in Kerala. But is Rahul Gandhi’s Prime Ministerial candidature not acceptable to them? Why else would they compete against each other in Wayanad?” she asked. Smriti alleged that Rahul Gandhi is seeking the help of a banned organisation to win. “If Rahul has courage, he should say that he does not want SDPI’s votes,” she said.
She did not mince words when she pointed out the several bank scams in the state. “The CPM looted Karuvannur Bank while the Congress fleeced the investors of Pulpally Bank. If the CPI was involved in the Kandala Bank scam, it was the IUML in AR Nagar Cooperative Bank scam. All Opposition party members are looters,” Smriti said.