BJP on Rahul Gandhi speech: Ministers rush to defend Narendra Modi after Congress attack

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Budget 2016: Rahul Gandhi said that the budget "lacks both vision & conviction" and that the exercise was a list of "new promises without any account of the failure of tall promises made in last 2 budgets". Gandhi reminded the Modi government that it had "mocked" Congress earlier on MGNREGA but now the NDA government has increased the allocation of rural job flagship scheme by over Rs 3,800 crore in 2016-17. "Modiji spent the first 2 years mocking the Congress Party's focus on farmers, MNREGA, Rural dev & social spending. Now mere rhetoric, without vision or action, will fool neither farmers nor the poor of this country," Rahul Gandhi said. (PTI)

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BJP on Rahul Gandhi speech: Gandhi also came under attack from BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma who said his speech in the Lok Sabha was "devoid" of facts and "full of drama but lacked in content" and called him a "lying machine" and a "non-serious, part-time politician". (Image Source: Express Photo)

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BJP on Rahul Gandhi speech: In a Facebook post, Jaitley said the prime minister not only works hard and involves himself in the functioning of the various departments of the government but also inspires his team to work harder. "The Prime Minister should be the natural leader of the party and the Government. In the NDA it is so. The UPA was quite different. The Prime Minister is to lead by example." Jaitley said all ministers including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and he himself were responsible for each important decision taken by their departments. The Finance Minister said Gandhi’s views are "shaped" by the environment of a political party which has evolved into a 'crowd around a family'. "The UPA model of governance was that if a person outside the family is the Prime Minister, he should be reduced to being a figure-head. Given a choice between a 'hands-on' Prime Minister or a 'nominal' head, I would unhesitatingly choose the former," he said. Taunting Gandhi, Jaitley said, "As one evolves from a young to a middle-aged one, we certainly expect a certain level of maturity. The more I hear Shri Rahul Gandhi, the more I start wondering 'how much does he know – when will he know'. (Image Source: PTI)

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BJP on Rahul Gandhi speech: Rajnath Singh refuted Gandhi's claim that he was not informed before signing a peace pact with Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM, saying his statement was "completely false and baseless" and he "misled" the Parliament. (Image Source: PTI)

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BJP on Rahul Gandhi speech: "Rahul Gandhi's statement on Naga peace accord in Lok Sabha today is completely false and baseless. I had several rounds of consultations with the PM on Naga peace process. I strongly condemn Rahul Gandhi's attempt to mislead the House," Singh tweeted. (Image Source: PTI)