New Delhi: Asking Congress president Rahul Gandhi why he “acts again and again as a Chinese propagandist,” the BJP on Friday said truth has a habbit of popping up its head as Mr Gandhi admitted that he met Chinese ministers during his last year’s much hyped visit to Kailash Mansarovar.
The BJP’s attack on Mr Gandhi came after the Congress president said at a meeting in Odisha on Thursday that Chinese ministers told him during the trip in August-September last year that job creation was not a problem in their country. “When I had gone to Kailash, I met a couple of their ministers and they said job creation in China is not a problem at all,” Mr Gandhi said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said his party had raised questions about Mr Gandhi’s meeting with Chinese officials when he had embarked on the holy trip but the Congress had rejected the claims and said he was on a personal visit. “The Kailash Mansarovar yatra was an excuse. He had gone to meet these ministers. Rahul Gandhi is not an ordinary citizen. Why did he not inform the Ministry of External Affairs? Why was the Indian embassy in Beijing not kept in loop? We want to know the details of his talks,” Mr Patra said.
“Why is he acting as a Chinese propagandist? He keeps raving about China,” Mr Patra observed. The BJP leader said Mr Gandhi had also met the Chinese envoy in India during the Doklam standoff involving the armies of two countries, adding that the Congress had first denied it.
Mr Patra also attacked the Congress after its senior spokesperson Anand Sharma warned officials of various agencies to be ready for accountability for working at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to target his political opponents, comments that came after CBI raids at former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s residence Friday. The BJP leader said it amounted to the Congress issuing “threats” to officials and showed the mentality of the opposition party.
“The Congress believes that its leaders are entitled to indulge in corruption but they should not be investigated,” Mr Patra said, adding that such “threats” are against the principles of the Constitution.
