New Delhi: Mocking the Congress-led meet of eight parties against demonetisation, BJP on Tuesday said it was Rahul Gandhi's "flop show" and that the bubble of opposition unity had burst before it could even take off.
Noting that only eight of the 16 parties which had joined hands in Parliament against the Modi government over note ban were present on Saturday, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took potshots at Rahul, saying it was increasingly becoming clear that he lacked "maturity and gravitas" and that he would soon be left alone to "hurl abuses without substance".
"We all saw Rahul Gandhi's flop show today. Those who claimed about opposition unity could merely bring together eight of the 16 parties. Soon they will be reduced to four.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee along with some regional parties sought to put up a united face raising the pitch against demonetisation by demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After the eight-party meeting, the leaders also sought a probe into the issue of "personal corruption" of Modi with Gandhi insisting that a "free and fair" inquiry was needed to maintain the credibility of the Prime Minister's post.
Both Gandhi and Banerjee spoke of a "common minimum agenda" being evolved to take the opposition unity forward even as he downplayed the absence of several other parties, including the Left, from the meet which preceded the press conference.
The BJP mocked their meet and Prasad told a press conference that the opposition's exercise was "laughable" as, he said, those who were behind scams like 2G spectrum, Saradha chit fund and coal block allocations had come together to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Rahul Gandhi will be left on his own...to hurl abuses without substance. The bubble of opposition unity has burst before it could take off," he said.
The senior BJP leader kept Congress and Rahul Gandhi in his line of fire and skipped any mention of TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a staunch critic of the government's demonetisation move and again attacked Modi in today's exercise.
Noting that earlier parties would work together to put up a joint front against Congress, he said the opposition's press conference today was a victory for BJP and loss for Congress as it showed that as the saffron party has emerged as the centre of polity now.
Rahul and his party have been the biggest patron of corruption, Prasad alleged, saying that he kept quiet during the UPA government regime when several scams happened.
