The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday hit back at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of the government and asked the latter to 'self-introspect' and 'analyze' his party's behaviour with the farmers rather than confusing the public if he was not able to convince them.
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"Rahul ji should self-introspect and analyze his own party's behaviour with the farmers since the time of his ancestors. He should go home, listen to his speech, self-introspect and understand that he is wrong," said BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma.
"Rahul Gandhi has been in politics since 10 years and he has never been successful in convincing the public about any issue, which is why he had to face a loss. Rahul ji has changed his tactics a little now wherein he has begun a campaign to confuse people. His speech was in accordance with that," he added.
Sharma said that the ruling BJP at the Centre was trying to rectify the Congress party's mistakes.
"Their party has cheated the farmers and our government is trying to pacify the farmers," he said.
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"Our model of land acquisition is not the Robert Vadra model that we would take land from farmers at cheap rates without any compensation," he added.
Making his first speech in the 16th Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the Centre and said the 'achche din' government has failed the country.
"The 'achche din' government has failed the country on minimum support price and agriculture credit. In our time, agriculture grew. The average increase in credit was 20 percent each year," Gandhi said.
"The "achche din" government has given only an increase of five percent MSP, agricultural credit has not been improved and agricultural growth is one percent," he added.
The Congress vice-president also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment towards the farming community.
"The Prime Minister said he will look out for the farmers. How will you strengthen the country when the foundation is the farmers?" he asked.
"How much area has been affected by unseasonal rains? Are the experts right, is the PM right or is the Agricultural Ministry right?" he added.
Gandhi also advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go and see how much area has been affected.
"I have a suggestion. Why doesn't the PM go and see for himself how much area has been affected?" he said.
"One thing is clear. This government is ignoring the farmers and doesn't listen to labourers. It is the truth that your government is ignoring the farmers and that is why you are raising the voices," he added.