)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka could not decide whether to personally attack Narendra Modi, and that “utter confusion” prevails in the election war room of the Congress.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said Rahul had earlier on in his election campaign disapproved of personal attacks but had “broken the norm himself” by raking up the issue of Modi’s marriage. She said Priyanka on Tuesday issued an emotional appeal about the BJP hitting her on a personal level by attacking her husband Robert Vadra.
“At least, the Congress has finally owned up Vadra. Cabinet ministers who until recently said Vadra was a private citizen and therefore the party or the government won’t respond about allegations on him have finally owned him,” Sitharaman said.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said “Mrs Vadra was right that personal attacks pain people and should be avoided. I wish her political friends should also realise this. If they had realised it, her brother would not have made Mr Narendra Modi’s so-called child marriage into a public issue. The Congress would not have made security to a lady in Ahemdabad into a ‘snoopgate’ issue. In a case where courts have found that there is not even enough case to register an FIR against Mr. Modi, the Congress party would not have carried on campaign for 12 long years based on falsehood and fabrications.”
He said if only her mother Sonia had listened to her daughter, she wouldn’t have called Modi Maut Ka Saudagar (merchant of death).
“I completely agree with Mrs Vadra that personal attacks pain people and should be avoided. But good advice, like charity, always begins at home,” Jaitley said.
Sitharaman said the confusion over whether or not to launch personal attacks betrayed Congress’ anxiety and that it was rattled. “Congress has no message and is confused. It messed up the economy so doesn’t want to talk about those issues. Every twist and turn is being attempted. They do not know what will work for them,” she said.
