Returning the fire after his onslaught on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, three senior ministers on Wednesday contested his claim that the PM did not consult cabinet colleagues and raised questions about the "maturity" of the Congress vice president.
Rejecting Gandhi's charge that Modi hardly consulted senior ministers, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the more he hears him, the more he wonders "how much does he know and when will he know" while Home Minister Rajnath Singh condemned his attempts to "mislead" Parliament over consultations on Naga peace accord. Gandhi also came under attack from BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma who said his speech in the Lok Sabha was "devoid" of facts and "full of drama but lacked in content" and called him a "lying machine" and a "non-serious, part-time politician".
In a Facebook post, Jaitley said the prime minister not only works hard and involves himself in the functioning of the various departments of the government but also inspires his team to work harder.
"The Prime Minister should be the natural leader of the party and the Government. In the NDA it is so. The UPA was quite different. The Prime Minister is to lead by example." Jaitley said all ministers including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and he himself were responsible for each important decision taken by their departments. "We do not by-pass the Prime Minister who is always available for consultation and guidance," he said.
Jaitley was reacting to Gandhi's claim that Swaraj was not consulted on the Pakistan policy, Rajnath Singh was unware of the Nagaland accord and Jaitley did not know of the Budget proposals. The Finance Minister said Gandhi s views are "shaped" by the environment of a political party which has evolved into a "crowd around a family". "The UPA model of governance was that if a person outside the family is the Prime Minister, he should be reduced to being a figure-head. Given a choice between a 'hands-on' Prime Minister or a 'nominal' head, I would unhesitatingly choose the former," he said.
Taunting Gandhi, Jaitley said, "As one evolves from a young to a middle-aged one, we certainly expect a certain level of maturity. The more I hear Shri Rahul Gandhi, the more I start wondering 'how much does he know when will he know'. In the post titled 'How much does he know when will he know', the minister went on to say that after hearing Gandhi, "I think India has made the right choice between the Prime Minister who leads the Government and a Prime Minister who is merely implementing decisions taken elsewhere." Rajnath Singh refuted Gandhi's claim that he was not informed before signing a peace pact with Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM, saying his statement was "completely false and baseless" and he "misled" the Parliament.
"Rahul Gandhi's statement on Naga peace accord in Lok Sabha today is completely false and baseless. I had several rounds of consultations with the PM on Naga peace process. I strongly condemn Rahul Gandhi's attempt to mislead the House," Singh tweeted.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday rejected Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's remarks that even the Foreign Minister was unaware of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden de-tour to Lahore.
In an exclusive to ANI, Swaraj said, " I would like to correct the record. After a conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Modi called me, seeking my opinion on his visit to Lahore."
"I told him that it would be an 'out of the box initiative' and he should go to Lahore, said Swaraj adding, "This was a novel initiative, which got appreciated in the country." Swaraj said that since she was not present in the lower house today, she could not respond to Gandhi's statements." "If I would have been present there, I would have responded to his statement. I reached home and saw his speech, which is not correct," she added.
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