Congress responds to PM Narendra Modi’s ‘bail gaadi’ jibe

In means to get back at PM Modi’s taunt of “Bail Gaadi” at the Jaipur rally on Saturday, Congress asked him to be prepared for many BJP leaders “not on bail but in jail” once people throw him out in the coming elections.

All these BJP leaders would have been in jail but for not allowing fair probe in so many scams that happened during the last four years,” party spokesman RPN Singh asserted at the AICC press briefing. On Modi repeatedly stressing that he was not talking of “belgadi” (bullock cart) but all top Congress leaders on “bail,” he said the government”s policies have already forced the farmers from tractors to the bullock carts. Alluding to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and many other Congress leaders out on bail, Modi said no wonder many call the Congress a “bail gaadi.” The Congress leaders said it is his old song as even in an election rally in Himachal he had claimed that the Congress was not be trusted when its top leadership is out on bail and how long.

Free Press Journal reports that enraged Congress spoke-sperson RPN Singh said: “Had there been investigations in countless scams in the last four years, they would have been all in jail. The Prime Minister blocked investigations. He is obsessed with the Congress. Instead, he could have asked the chief minister (Vasundhara Raje) sitting with him on the dais how many charges she faced.” He said: “When we come to power, we will order probe into all these scams. Everybody found guilty will be sent to jail. They won”t be out on bail. Even the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) scam will be investigated and those responsible will be in jail.” It was an indirect hint that Modi may also languish in jail in the GSPC scam.

The Congress had levelled several allegations against the Rajasthan CM and even forced a washout of Parliament session when her nexus with absconder Lalit Modi came to surface. Singh said the public resources were squandered in the Jaipur function organised basically to boost the BJP”s prospects in the Assembly elections in another four months. The function was supposed to be an interaction of the beneficiaries of central schemes with the PM for the state government to justify in mobilising the people, but most of those brought were actually the BJP workers, he said.

The Congress spokesperson said crores of the exchequer were spent in logistics and advertisements in newspapers. Singh said: “Even private players were pressurised to bring crowds. The LPG Distribution Federation of Rajasthan was told to bring beneficiaries of Ujjwala scheme. They complained to the chief secretary that they were being threatened.” He pointed out that the distressed farmers wanted to attend the rally but they were not allowed, not even the beneficiaries of the loan waiver scheme as the authorities feared they would express their grievances.

Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has been saying for the last couple of days that the state government was spending huge sums to ensure success of the rally and the State Home Minister ordered collectors through video-conferencing to bring crowds. He said even schools were ordered to bring children to the function.