PM Narendra Modi as pure as Ganga; Rahul Gandhi's allegation shows his frustration: BJP

NEW DELHI: Reacting to Rahul's Gandhi's allegations on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP on Wednesday said the charges leveled by the Congress vice president are "baseless, false, shameful and mala fide" and an attempt to divert attention from the AgustaWestland probe as names of Congress leaders and the "family" are coming up. Hitting back at Gandhi, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the allegations reflected the Congress leader's frustration.

• Prasad said that Rahul Gandhi is leading his party to repeated disastrous defeat and hence he is leveling baseless allegations due to frustration.
• "Rahul Gandhi leading his party to repeated disastrous defeat. Public has lost all hopes in Congress which is not even capable enough to run municipalities. He leveled allegation on our PM, who is as pure as Ganga, due to his frustration," Prasad told the media.
• The Minister said that Gandhi didn't speak a word against the corruption during Dr. Manmohan Singh led UPA government but protected the tainted leaders.
• "Not a word was spoken by Rahul Gandhi on the series of stinking corruption which has become integral part of Manmohan Singh's government," he said.
• Congress didn't spare the sky, space, land, or even sea, everywhere there was corruption during their rule," he added.
• Prasad said the history of Congress stinks with Corruption and its saga is to promote looters of public money and to protect them.
• Baseless allegations are being leveled to divert attention from the alleged involvement of Congressmen in AgustaWestland case.
• Rahul never raised a voice when his brother-in-law was using his influence on governments in Rajasthan and Haryana to do corruption.
• People of India have stopped taking him seriously. Rahul Gandhi is just bluff and bluster. There is no substance in what he says, Party spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

What Rahul Gandhi had said: Upping the ante against the government, Rahul Gandhi alleged PM Modi of receiving Rs 40 crore from the Sahara group as the chief minister of Gujarat during 2013-14.

• “According to Sahara group diary entries, Narendra Modi was paid nine times in a period of six months,” Rahul Gandhi said in a direct attack on PM.
• Rahul said that these records are with I-T department for last two and half years yet no action has been taken.
• “As per record with the I-T department, Rs 2.5 crore was given to Modi on 30 October 2013, Rs 5 crore on 12 November 2013, Rs 2.5 crore on 27 November 2013, Rs 5 crore on 29 November 2013,” he said while addressing a rally in Mehsana town of North Gujarat.
• “Entries shows that Rs 5 crore was given to Modi on 6 December 2013, Rs 5 crore on 19 Dec 2013, Rs 5 crore on 13 January 2014, Rs 5 crore on 28 January 2014 and Rs 5 crore on 22 February 2014,” Rahul added.
• Rahul had recently alleged that he had information about “personal corruption” involving Modi.
• The Congress leader who yesterday likened the repeated changes in the rules to Modi’s changing of “clothes” said that PM Modi’s aim is to keep money of the poor in banks for at least 6-7 months so that he can waive off rich people’s loans.
• “When a farmer or middle class people take loans from banks and are unable to pay they are put behind bars but when the same is done by rich, they are not called ‘chor’ but are called defaulters,” the Congress leader said.

"PM Modi takes bribes and then shamelessly foists Demonetisation on Indians under the garb of 'fighting Black Money," Congress tweeted after the rally quoting its Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. (With PTI inputs)