BJP irked by Rahul Gandhi’s ‘sleep’ remark against Modi, says new low in public discourse

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s statement that he will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until he waives farm loans had irked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the saffron party termed the remark a new low in the public discourse. Attacking the Congress chief, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that he can’t expect anything better from Gandhi, whose party, he said, ensured Indians didn’t sleep during the 60 years of its rule due to rampant corruption.

“Friends I am given to understand that Rahul Gandhi today said that he will not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sleep. This is a new low in the public discourse of the country,” the Union minister told reporters.

Referring to the Congress president addressing the issue of agrarian crisis and saying that the Congress party will ensure all farm loans are waived, the BJP leader said that it was just drama.

Also Read | Won’t let PM Modi sleep until he announces farm loan waiver, says Rahul Gandhi

He said that the Congress party had been in power for about 60 of the last 70 years. “What have they done for farmers? They are doing just drama now.”

Early in the day, the Congress chief had said that the prime minister has been in power for four-and-a-half years but didn’t waive a single penny of farm loans. He claimed Modi was only concerned for his 15 industrialist friends and not poor farmers.

“Modi ji has been prime minister for four-and-a-half years but has not waived a single rupee of farmer loans. I want to tell you that the Congress party and other opposition parties will unite till all farm loans are waived. We will stand up and fight against them. We will not retract a single inch, we will not let them sleep at night till farmer loans are waived,” Gandhi had said.

Also Read | Kamal Nath clarifies Rahul Gandhi's stand after MK Stalin's PM candidate proposal

Hitting out at the Gandhi scion for demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale deal, Prasad dared the Congress party and its chief to show “courage” and discuss the fighter jet deal “eye to eye” in the House.