Kejriwal's Gujarat tour was a political stunt, BJP leader Smriti Irani tells Aap Ki Adalat

New Delhi, March 8: BJP leader Smriti Irani today lashed out at Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal saying his Gujarat tour was a political stunt.Replying to queries from Rajat Sharma in India TV show Aap Ki Adalat, Irani said, "If Kejriwal was sincere about finding out facts about Gujarat's development and meeting Narendrabhai, he would not have fixed his appointment in advance for a live audience in Delhi before taking the media with him to Gujarat."His priority was not to find answers to his questions on Gujarat's development, but to conduct a tamasha in Ahmedabad, and then attend a conclave in Delhi to denigrate Modi".Irani pointed out that Kejriwal and other AAP leaders have not said a single word against Congress President Sonia Gandhi so far, nor did they hold protest outside her residence. "They are not saying anything about Robert Vadra any more.""Arvindji (Kejriwal) is practising politics of convenience and this is being proved daily through his acts. Otherwise, how can you explain Kejriwal forming a government with support from a party, which has become the very definition of corruption, and which has put the burden of inflation on the common man?"Irani had a dig at Gujarat Congress, saying it would be better if Congress fought the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat by having an alliance with the AAP. "The people of Gujarat have already taught lessons to Congress leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modwadia, and if they challenged Modiji with the help of AAP, the people will give them a befitting reply again, come May 16."Irani said: "The same Congress party, whose leader Rahul Gandhi failed to mount a good campaign and who has been proved worthless in politics, is now taking the help of Kejriwal."The BJP leader said, "if Rahul Gandhi had the gift of the gab, his Congress party would surely have projected him as the prime ministerial candidate."Asked why Modi was not replying to Kejriwal's charge that he was using Reliance owner Mukesh Ambani's plane, Smriti Irani said: "Kejriwal has this habit of levelling charges, but it is always difficult to show evidence. He himself took a private plane to go from Ahmedabad, to Jaipur and Delhi, and by his logic, he should be in the pockets of the person who owned that plane."Asked why BJP has welcomed back former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka, Smriti Irani said, "it was our party which had directed Yeddyurappa to resign from chief ministership, when charges were levelled against him. We lost the elections because of this. Now Yeddyurappa has been acquitted by the court and he has been taken back in the party."Smriti Irani was asked by Rajat Sharma why she had criticised Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots, by giving a statement in Surat on December 12, 2004 that Modi's continuance as CM after the Gujarat riots was shameful, a statement which she retracted the same day in Mumbai by issuing an unconditional apology.Irani admitted she gave an unconditional apology saying: "The party leadership told me not to become a victim of propaganda, and advised me if I consider something to be the truth, then I should stand by it. It was Narendrabhai's greatness that he did not take my statement wrongly and finally the courts acquitted him. I thank him for his largeheartedness."Irani said, during the 2002 riots nearly 5,000 Muslims were sheltered in Ahmedabad's Noorani mosque by the administration, but during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Congress government did not try to protect Sikhs in a single gurdwara. For video details, pl contact Anita Sharma, senior executive editor, India TV on ᄧ 98111 99344