Rahul Gandhi speaking as if he is in opposition, says Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's recent comments on corruption and the fall in growth rate seemed like they were coming from an opposition leader, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said here on Sunday.

"The Congress Vice-President's speech at the FICCI conference yesterday appears like the speech of an opposition leader. He seems to have forgotten that his party is in power for the last ten years. Earlier, it was in power for more than 50 years," he said, talking to reporters here.

"Whatever he was preaching yesterday, his party did not practise it. He said graft is bleeding India. Who is responsible? It is his party, which was in power and which is in power. He says without growth, you cannot alleviate poverty. Then, who brought down the growth? Your party. You should explain that," Naidu said.

Referring to Rahul's reported comment that good news about government does not sell newspapers in Delhi, Naidu asked where was the good news for media to report.

"Is he talking about scam after scam? Betrayal after betrayal on every promise? Economic downturn, rupee devaluation, unemployment, suicides by farmers or growing atrocities on women? Misuse of CBI for political ends or stalling of women's reservation bill and Lokpal bill for six years?" Naidu said. Accusing Congress of patronising the corrupt and misusing Constitutional institutions, he alleged that Congress government tried to cover up those involved in Adarsh society scam "even after judicial indictment".

"Your Governor goes out of the way to reject permission for CBI to prosecute a former Chief Minister. The Governor has violated the principles of Constitution. He has no right to be in that post. He should be recalled immediately. The Cabinet of Maharashtra, they absolved their own ministers and they rejected the report. Then, why did you appoint a commission," he said.

Congress was now trying to "make a face-lift" by drafting some ministers for party work, but that will not save it, Naidu said.

Reiterating BJP's commitment to the formation of Telangana state, he said the party was equally committed to the welfare of Seemandhra people. Alleging that the draft Telangana bill approved by Union Cabinet did not address the concerns of Seemandhra people, he said BJP would increase pressure on the Centre to address them, as well as the concerns of Telangana leaders.

To a query about formation of government in Delhi, he said it was for Aam Aadmi Party to explain why it was ready to take Congress' support after calling it corrupt. "Even in the letter they had written to the Congress President, they mentioned you are corrupt, you are communal. And still, AAP has no apprehension, no qualms in taking the support. It is for them explain to the people. We have nothing to say," he said.

When asked about a possible Congress-RJD alliance, he said, "Congress is slowly becoming an untouchable" as "only people who went to jail, who are on bail, they want to do some business with the Congress party".

About AIADMK favouring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for Prime Minister's post, Naidu said leader of the largest party should be the PM. "Everybody has got a right to aspire to become something in public life, including the Prime Minister. It is not reserved for one family or one region. But the only thing is, experience shows that the leader who wants to lead the nation must have the backing of the largest number. He must belong to the largest party in Parliament. Otherwise, that experiment will not succeed. "I am not saying this with reference to madam Jayalalithaa. I am making a political assessment of what has happened," Naidu said.