Karnataka BJP on Monday dubbed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's remarks that the Union government was controlling the media houses to prevent them from telling the truth as “baseless” and “childish”.
BJP's senior leaders from the state said they were “surprised” to hear Gandhi's remarks at the launch of the commemorative edition of the National Herald in Bengaluru on Monday.
“BJP would like to remind Rahul Gandhi that Congress is known for its notoriety in controlling the media. The country is aware of the draconian Emergency and how the Congress Party had filed criminal cases against scores of journalists for opposing it. Nothing can be more childish than Rahul Gandhi's remark. Now, it is clear the Congress which has lost its support base everywhere has nothing else but to criticise the BJP,” said senior BJP leaders Vamanacharya and Ashwathnarayana, in a joint statement.
“For the first time, the common man is able to interact with with various strata of the government. The prime minister himself listens to the opinion of the people and is making honest efforts to resolve the problems,” said Vamanacharya adding that the fact that only Congressmen were present at the launch of the journal exposes the real intent and motive of the party.
Countering the claims of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the Centre had only renamed the existing UPA programmes, BJP stated that Jan Dhan, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Skill India, Startup India, Mudra, Give It Up and Stand Up India were the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “In fact, Siddaramaiah government is claiming BJP programmes like Anna Bhagya and Ujwala schemes as its own,” mocked BJP.
