Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remark at a rally in Kerala that has triggered a ‘north-south’ row and has also drawn sharp responses from other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.
"The spiteful and vengeful politics of Rahul Gandhi, which insults not only the people and voters of Amethi but seeks to create a divide between the north and south India, is to be condemned by every Indian citizen," Irani told news agency ANI.
Her reaction comes in the backdrop of Gandhi’s comments at the ‘Aishwarya Yatra’ in the southern state that he was used to a “different type of politics” in north India and that coming to Kerala was “very refreshing” as people are interested in “issues.”
Speaking at the rally, Gandhi had said, “For the first 15 years, I was a member of Parliament in the north. So I had got used to a different type of politics. And for me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing. Because suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in issues.”
The BJP leader said that this was not the first time Gandhi tried to divulge in divisive politics. “Before this he made a statement from Assam with regards to people in the state of Gujarat and the result was such that the Congress was wiped out in the local body elections as was visible in the election results from Gujarat yesterday. The question that begets the politics of Rahul Gandhi is that how long will he continue to lie to the people of our country, for how long will he seek to divide the people, for how long will he try to build hatred between communities,” Irani added.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP leader said that this was not the first time Gandhi tried to divulge in divisive politics. “Before this he made a statement from Assam with regards to people in the state of Gujarat and the result was such that the Congress was wiped out in the local body elections as was visible in the election results from Gujarat yesterday. The question that begets the politics of Rahul Gandhi is that how long will he continue to lie to the people of our country, for how long will he seek to divide the people, for how long will he try to build hatred between communities,” Irani added.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, the BJP’s president JP Nadda also reacted to the Congress leader’s comment on Twitter. “A few days back he was in the North-east, spewing venom against the western part of India. Today in the South he is spewing venom against the North. Divide and rule politics won’t work,” he tweeted.