Rahul is a merchant of lies, says BJP after report praises Gujarat

New Delhi: Dubbing Rahul Gandhi as “asatya ka saudagar” (merchant of lies), BJP today said his “untruths” about Gujarat land acquisition policy have been exposed by the report sponsored by his own government that has “praised” the state's model.“If you permit to borrow something Congress has trademark for themselves, today you (Rahul Gandhi) have become “asatya ke saudagar” (merchant of lies),” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here, in an apparent reference to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's infamous “maut ka saudagar” (merchant of death) barb against Narendra Modi. Referring to the report prepared on behalf of Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) which has praised the Gujarat land acquisition model as “exemplary”, she said “In every rally, the Congress vice president spoke about the toffee model that one gets a toffee in one rupee but in Gujarat you will get land in one rupee. “Where is Rahul Gandhi now? Where is he today? His own government today said that land acquisition policy in Gujarat is exemplary and it is the best practice. From the dais you went about telling the whole world something which did not get corroborated by your own government. “You went on to say untruths from the dais as part of your election campaign and Congress party did not bat an eyelid. His speech writers did not tell him about this.” She said Congress should apologise for having said such untruths when its government report is to the contrary. “People are misled.”Objecting to the “vicious” propaganda against Narendra Modi and BJP, she also sought a reply from Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.“Whether malnutrition or encounters, Gujarat was always targeted. Anything to do with Modi and Gujarat is alright for bashing up with untruths.“We object to this and we take serious note of this kind of vicious attack Congress is propagating against Modi and BJP. Minister Anand Sharam should come out on this,” Sitharaman said.Taking a dig at Congress for its “low-level politics” remarks, the BJP spokesperson asked Rahul Gandhi whether “Gujarat's growth and development model was low thinking” “So much discussion on ‘neech' (low). So much energy was spent on ‘neech' (low) comment. What actually was ‘neech' supposed to mean. We just do not understand what is this ‘neech soch' (low thinking) explanation that is coming out now,” Sitharaman said.Hitting out at BJP Prime Ministerial pick Narendra Modi for dubbing Priyanka's “neech rajniti” remark as an attack on his caste, Rahul Gandhi today said “people's actions are low, not their caste.”In her bid to turn the table on Congress, the BJP leader asked whether “the entire BJP agenda of development and ‘Sub ka saath sab ka vikas' (development for all) was neech soch (low thinking)? “.“We need to understand that having introduced with certain malafide intent the word “neech” in the political discourse, now the Congress is trying to come up with alternative to justify it.”She said Congress party is absolutely rattled and they do not even know what they are speaking. “Only intention of Congress is to stop Modi at any cost. Congress is getting exposed by the day, their frustration is getting exposed by the day. And therefore the “neech” debate is not for the BJP, it is only for the Congress to speak of. We have not started this discussion with any intention except for what has been thrown at us,” she said.