Many leaders today find it suitable to run off to the US and give lectures, Amit Shah said.
After union minister Smriti Irani's scathing attack, BJP chief Amit Shah took a swipe at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi over his address to students at the University of California, Berkeley, in the US today. Mr Shah said that some politicians have begun to speak in the US because no one listens to them in India.
"Many leaders today find it suitable to run off to the US and give lectures. Nobody listens to them back home in India anyway," said Mr Shah, who is in West Bengal on his second tour of the state this year.
In his address, Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of divisive politics and of causing "tremendous damage" to India's economy with his policies. He described last year's demonetisation as a "reckless and dangerous" decision and the Goods and Services Tax as "hastily applied."
Rahul Gandhi addressed students at UC Berkeley
Top BJP leaders hit out at Mr Gandhi for criticising PM Modi and the government at an international forum, with Union Minister Smriti Irani calling his attack on the Prime Minister "deplorable." She also slammed the Congress vice president for asking not to be singled out as a dynast by saying, "Most of the country runs like this. That's how India works." The minister said Mr Gandhi was a "failed dynast" who chose a convenient platform to beat political opponents after "failing to connect with the people of India".
"If there's one thing that the BJP has done, it's that we've ended dynasty politics, caste politics and nepotism," Amit Shah said, stating that the BJP "has begun a new era of politics of performance."
Another union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad dismissed Mr Gandhi's criticism of demonetisation suggesting that the Congress leader do his homework better. "There is a tradition of our country that we don't talk about domestic politics overseas. Despite being from a big family, Rahul Gandhi did not pay attention to this established tradition," the minister said.
The Congress has defended Mr Gandhi's remarks, with its senior leader Anand Sharma saying he criticised the government and the prime minister and not the nation. That, Mr Sharma said, was a feature of democracy.
"It is the present prime minister who is guilty of insulting India on foreign soil. It is wrong to accuse Rahul Gandhi of having said anything which is belittling. It again betrays the streak of intolerance and criticism by the BJP and the present government," Mr Sharma alleged.
The Congress leader also said that Mr Gandhi rightly defended dynasties in the country. "When it comes to the Nehru-Gandhi family, there have been five generations in the service of the country. For three decades there is no member of the Nehru-Gandhi family who has accepted or taken oath of office," he said.