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Failed dynastic political party's leader spoke out: Smriti Irani on Rahul Gandhi's speech in US

| @indiablooms | Sep 12, 2017, at 07:18 pm
New Delhi, Sep 12 (IBNS): Taking a jibe at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's comment on dynasty politics during his address to the students of University of California, Berkeley, Union Information and Broadcasting minister, Smriti Irani, termed Gandhi as a failed dynastic political party's leader who spoke out in the US.

In a brief media interaction, Irani said: "A failed dynastic political party's leader spoke out."

Gandhi, who is presently in the US for couple of weeks, said there are several instances of the dynasty problems in the country so he can't alone be held responsible for it.

Upholding several instances that are devoid of dynasty problems in the country, Irani said: "Our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was born in a poor family, President (Ram Nath Kovind) comes from a marginalised community (Dalit) and Vice President (Venkaiah Naidu) was a farmer's son."

Reacting to the US visit of Rahul Gandhi, the I&B minister said: "He (Rahul Gandhi) went to the international forum (the US) to express his political distress after getting rejected in India (elections in India)."

"He forgot that the votes are from India" she added.

Gandhi, in the US, spoke over a range of issues that concerns India and in some cases criticised the incumbent Modi government.

The Congress VP highlighted how the country is going through a phase of intolerance. "Violence and hatred distract people from the task it hand. Liberal journalist being shot, people being lynched because they are Dalits, Muslims killed in suspicion of eating beef. This is new in India and damages India very badly."

Gandhi did not miss a chance to dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) government, particularly regarding the economic measures which had been taken since last year.

The recent Reserve Bank of India's report that states 99% of people's money returned to the bank after demonetisation and the recent dip in the GDP below six percent, prompted the Congress VP to criticise the government in the economic sector.

"The government's economic policies, the demonetisation and a hastily applied GST, has caused tremendous damage. Millions of small businesses were simply wiped out as a result of demonetisation. Farmers and manual labourers who use cash were hit extremely hard, agriculture in deep distress and farmers' suicide skyrocketed across the country," Gandhi said.

"Demonetisation, a completely self inflicted wound caused approximately 2% loss in India's GDP," he asserted.

Gandhi, when asked about whether he is ready take charge as the PM candidate, said: "I am absolutely ready but the way our party (Congress) works, we have an organisational election process that decides that and that process is currently ongoing. So we have an internal system where we elect certain delegates to make that decision."

"So for me to say that the decision is mine wouldn't be fair. That is the decision the Congress party has to make and the process is currently going on right now," the Congress vice president added.

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