Rahul Gandhi has called the Ram Temple consecration ceremony a "political event" of the BJP
The BJP today attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying he would like people to believe that the faith of Hindus can be manipulated but no one wants him to interpret how they should practice their beliefs.
The Ram temple is a deeply felt emotion by Hindus in every corner of the country, Union minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said after Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of turning the January 22 consecration ceremony at Ayodhya into a party event.
With the former Congress president targeting the BJP over the Ram temple issue and also slamming the Modi government for its handling of the economy, Mr Chandrasekhar hit back at him at a press conference in Delhi.
"Rahul Gandhi lives in a la-la world. He thinks everything he says is predicated on nobody understanding the truth and he can get away with these atrocious lies," Mr Chandrasekhar said.
"He tried so in 2014 and 2019 and is trying again. The people of India are wise enough. They understand the truth and what his politics is about," he added.
The minister cited the performance of the Congress government in Karnataka which he blamed for "corruption and farmers' distress" in the state.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier said in Nagaland that it is difficult for his party's leaders to attend the January 22 ceremony as the BJP and the RSS have turned it into a "political event" centred around Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
His remarks at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here came days after the Congress top brass declined the invitation to the event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
With a NITI Aayog report saying that over 24.82 crore people moved out of multidimensional poverty in nine years till 2022-23, Mr Chandrasekhar lauded PM Modi's pro-poor and welfare policies for development and accused the Congress of misleading the poor with empty slogans of 'Garibi Hatao'.
The Modi government has reversed the "anyay" (injustice), he said in a swipe at Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra.
The Congress played on the poor for decades, he said. The Modi government has made a transformational impact, he said.
Since 2015, more than 1 lakh start-ups and 112 unicorns have come up, the BJP leader said, adding that a parliamentary report in 2012 had noted that nine groups had cornered 97 per cent of the net worth in the banking system.
Capital availability for the young innovators was then scarce but now they are rising due to a supportive system, he added.
There will be 10 lakh start-ups and 10 thousand unicorns in the next 10 years, he claimed, asserting that India has become a technology-producing country from a technology-consuming country.
It has led to a steady decline in the unemployment rate, he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)