TS Singh Deo, the former Chhattisgarh Deputy CM, responding to BJP's charges of Rahul Gandhi maligning the country on foreign soil on Monday, asked the ruling party to look at its own record before launching diatribes at its rivals.
Speaking to IANS, the veteran Congressman said, "When Narendra Modi was not Prime Minister and when he visited the USA, I remember all that he said. Media also has these records. Therefore, it's advisable that the BJP first looks within before going overboard on Rahul's statements."
"BJP leaders (referring to PM Modi) made more serious accusations against the then UPA governments," Deo added.
On questions of Rahul slamming the BJP and its ideologue RSS treating women as a 'subsidiary', the Congress leader defended him and said that the LoP only stated the truth as this was visible in the 'mindset and attitude' of top right-wing functionaries.
"Look at their thoughts, look at their books. The discrimination against women is clearly visible," said the former deputy CM while admitting that the Modi government boasts of many women ministers including Nirmala Sitharaman and more.
When questioned on Rahul's adulation for China, he accused the BJP leaders of deliberate deviation from the facts for scoring political points and said that under the Modi government, India-China economic ties have seen a fresh upswing.
"China is economically stronger than India. If Rahul Gandhi puts it on record, there is nothing wrong in it. The whole world acknowledges China as the economic superpower," he added.
He also brushed aside Union Minister Giriraj Singh's assertions on the cylinder-train collision in Kanpur and said that the government should probe the matter deeper and prosecute the criminals, rather than levelling wild allegations on the Opposition.
He also expressed dismay over how the ministers are making baseless allegations and accused them of lowering the political discourse.
