Shillong/New Delhi, Jan 31: This is one jacket over which both the BJP and the Congress are finding it hard to keep their shirts on.
The political arch rivals tore into each other after the Meghalaya unit of the BJP, in an apparent bid to get even with Rahul Gandhi over his “suit-boot” jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claimed the Congress chief wore a jacket worth Rs 63,000 to a concert in Shillong Tuesday.
“So @OfficeOfRG, soot (pun intended!)-boot ki sarkar with ‘black’ money fleeced from Meghalayan State exchequer by rampant corruption? Instead of singing away our woes, you could have given a report card of your inefficient govt in Meghalaya! Your indifference mocks us!,” the BJP’s Meghalaya unit tweeted.
The party’s state unit also tweeted an image of a Burberry jacket, similar to the one that Rahul wore, having a price tag of USD 995 (little over Rs 63,000). In another tweet, the BJP alleged the Congress government in Meghalaya was mired in corruption. It said instead of attending a musical event, Rahul should have given a report card of the state government.
Out on the hustings in the hill state, an unfazed Rahul Gandhi fired his “suit-boot ki sarkar” salvo at Modi afresh, saying he was always found in the company of people attired in suits and not those that are poor. “You will not see him (Modi) hug a poor person, talk to a poor person or even engage with a poor person. You will see him with others. There is a particular distance he maintains with the poor people which he does not with Mr Obama or others,” he told journalists in Shillong.
“The fact of the matter is that he (Modi) is still a suit-boot person. He has not done anything….,” Rahul said. The tweet suggesting that the jacket worn by Rahul was bought with black money, drew a sharp reaction from Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury, who alleged the BJP was leading a “suit-boot ki sarkar” at the Centre, and had no moral authority to question Rahul.
The BJP, which intends to give a tough fight to the ruling Congress in the Meghalaya Assembly elections, also accused the Congress of distracting voters by organising a soiree. “Rock concert distraction tactics by the @OfficeOfRG to take away focus of Meghalayan voters from real issues on ground! A prince can fuss over ‘fuddy-duddy chopper’ rides & cancel his Tura trip, but ever wondered how people in Meghalaya travel,” the BJP tweeted.
PTI
