Union minister for women and child development Smriti Irani on Saturday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s oft made ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ remarks meant that politics was business for the Congress top family. The minister made the remarks after inaugurating the newly constructed building of Gauriganj Nagar Palika Parishad located in Amethi.
“The Congress people are talking of opening a shop. It shows that politics for them is business and that they don’t have anything to do with ‘Rashtraniti (patriotism),” Irani said when asked to comment on Rahul Gandhi’s ‘nafrat ke bazaar main mohabbat ki dukaan kholenge’ (in the market of hate, we will open shops of love) remark.
The Congress leader has been making this remark consistently since his five-month Bharat Jodo Yatra was taken out from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from September 2022 to January 2023. He had also made the same remark to target the BJP during his recent visit to the USA.
Reacting to Irani’s remarks, Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi said, “What an irony that the Congress’s ‘Rashtraniti’ is being questioned. The Congress is proud of its legacy and leaders who have always been at the forefront for the national cause and even sacrificed their lives. The BJP today lies exposed and in frustration its leaders are making comments which are exposing them further.”
Moreover, Irani said, “Various development works have been initiated in Amethi since 2014. It’s a matter of great pride that a BJP worker had been elected the Gauriganj Nagar Palika chairperson and the fact that she is a woman makes it even better. In Amethi, for the first time a BJP worker has become zila panchayat adhyaksh. A person from an ordinary family has become the lawmaker from Jagdishpur for the second time.”
{{/usCountry}}Moreover, Irani said, “Various development works have been initiated in Amethi since 2014. It’s a matter of great pride that a BJP worker had been elected the Gauriganj Nagar Palika chairperson and the fact that she is a woman makes it even better. In Amethi, for the first time a BJP worker has become zila panchayat adhyaksh. A person from an ordinary family has become the lawmaker from Jagdishpur for the second time.”
{{/usCountry}}She also met many people who requested her to get their grievances redressed. These included a family who sought help for the treatment of their child suffering from a serious illness. Irani ordered her personal assistant Vijay Gupta to ensure that the child is provided best treatment at Delhi’s AIIMS.
The minister held a ‘tiffin meeting’ with party workers at Salon later. Such ‘tiffin meetings’ are being organised by the BJP across the country. In these meetings, the BJP workers and leaders eat home-made food together, an initiative to ensure unity and coordination and bonding among cadres ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.