Launching a blistering attack on the Congress for calling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a party of "a few big corporates", Union minister for urban development and parliamentary affairs Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said it was the Congress that had nurtured the corporates in a big way.
"The BJP has been in power at the Centre for the past year. Earlier, the party had ruled for just six years. Adani, Ambani, Tata, Birla, when were they all born? How did they earn such a huge chunk of money? Were they born in the past nine months? Did they grow so fat in this period?" said the minister while inaugurating the national executive meeting of the Scheduled Caste (SC) Cell of the BJP.
Projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a global rockstar leader and defending his links with big industrialists, Naidu said: "Yeh Ambanis and Adanis are all Congress ki meharbani (Ambanis and Adanis owe their existence to the Congress)."
The minister, who arrived one hour late due to a delay in his chartered flight, also targeted the opposition over its comments on the PM's foreign visits.
"During the Congress rule, India earned a bad name due to the rampant corruption and scams that hit the country. Modi is visiting other countries to regain their lost trust to invest in India. But the Congress has objection to that too. Can they tell the public why their prime ministers never visited any foreign country," asked Naidu.
{{/usCountry}}"During the Congress rule, India earned a bad name due to the rampant corruption and scams that hit the country. Modi is visiting other countries to regain their lost trust to invest in India. But the Congress has objection to that too. Can they tell the public why their prime ministers never visited any foreign country," asked Naidu.
{{/usCountry}}'Cong leaders lack maturity'
On Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's charge that the Modi government was a 'Suit boot ki sarkar', Naidu asked the opposition party to show some maturity while making such statements.
"Were prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and others not wearing good clothes while visiting foreign countries? The Congress has ruled the country for more than 60 years, but their leaders lack maturity. The fact is that they are not able to digest their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls," said Naidu.
The Union minister said the Congress's opposition to the land acquisition bill presented by the NDA government was only a stunt to get public attention, especially of farmers.
"No land would have been acquired under the bill presented by the UPA government. We have 30 crore people who don't have even an inch of land. Where would they go if their future generations don't have any industry to work for and a project where they can get a job?" asked Naidu.