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Rahul claims possible ED raid on him; BJP says he is evading accountability over Wayanad deaths
BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar says the Congress leader wants to be the centre of attention, he wants to be playing the victim card
Congress MP and LoP Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi along with party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal and others visit the epicenter of landslides Punchirimattam, Mundakkai in Wayanad on August 2, 2024, Friday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
A claim by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi that a raid against him was being planned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) prompted senior BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on August 2 to accuse the Congress leader of trying to evade accountability for the loss of over 300 lives in the Wayanad landslides.
The war of words was started by a post by Mr. Gandhi on X, in which he claimed that the government did not like his speech during the Budget discussion in which he had accused the government of pushing the people into a “chakravyuh [a battle formation]”. “Apparently, 2 in 1 didn’t like my Chakravyuh speech. ED ‘insiders’ tell me a raid is being planned. Waiting with open arms @dir_ed..Chai and biscuits on me,” he said. The post came in the middle of his Wayanad visit and was uploaded on X around 2 a.m.
When asked about Mr. Gandhi’s charge, Mr. Chandrasekhar told the media: “Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have perfected the strategy that whenever they are confronted with a tough set of questions or issues that they have no answers to, they try and wriggle out of it by creating a new narrative…it is pretty clear that Rahul Gandhi after his short experience in Wayanad, where over 300 people have died — he is a sitting MP elected twice by the people of Wayanad to look after their interest, — has done nothing in the last many years.”
Stating that Mr. Gandhi as MP of the constituency was the “last” to reach Wayanad, Mr. Chandrasekhar said: “He [Rahul Gandhi] wants to be the centre of attention, he wants to be playing the victim card…you can do this once, you can fool people some time, (but) you cannot fool people all the time. This is nothing but a silly attempt by Rahul Gandhi to take the new story away from Wayanad and on to this make-believe imaginary attempt by the ED on him.”
Accusing the Opposition parties of being involved in corruption, the BJP leader said they could not blame the law if it caught up with them. “Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whoever commits a crime, whoever loots money meant for the poor, will face consequences…,” he said.
‘Bid to silence people’
At the press conference, when asked about an instruction directing the science and technology institutions in Kerala not to undertake field visits to the disaster-hit Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad, — which was later withdrawn, — Mr. Chandrasekhar accused the State governments in Kerala and Karnataka of taking measures to silence people.
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He said the deaths in Wayanad were not just a tragedy, but a crime, the consequence of negligence of successive State governments from 2009 onwards. “Questions must be asked as to what was the commercial interest behind this negligence, for which the cost is being borne by innocent people of Wayanad,” said the BJP leader.
Mr. Chandrasekhar earlier quoted the statement of United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis, given on Thursday, to say that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi 80 crore people were lifted out of poverty and 25 crore brought out of multidimensional poverty due to digital governance policies, particularly mobile phones.
Under Mr. Modi, he said, the number of Internet connections increased from 17 crore to 90 crore in the past 10 years. “Similarly, the number of bank accounts increased from 14 crore to 52 crore…during the COVID-19 pandemic, 80 crore people received rations and 200 crore vaccinations, thanks to technology and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Digital India,” the BJP leader said.
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