New Delhi: BJP chief JP Nadda on Monday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "Mohabbat ki Dukaan" (shop of love) outreach in his ongoing tour to the US, claiming the Congress leader was actually running a "Nafrat (hatred) ka mega shopping mall" by pronouncing divisions in the country that don't exist.
Speaking at the launch of the book 'Amrit Kaal Ki Ore' written and edited by Shivanand Dwivedi and KK Upadhyay, Mr Nadda claimed that Rahul Gandhi has questioned India's vaccines, surgical strikes and stood in support of those who wanted to divide the country. He said even US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he wants his autograph and told him about the overwhelming number of requests he has received to be part of his event.
The BJP chief said that when the world only saw a financial crisis during Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war, India managed to stay on its feet. "The growth rate forecast for the US is 1.4%, China 5.2%, but the forecast for India is at 6.1%. Morgan Stanley shows it could touch 7.2%. Rahul Gandhi should know the country he has gone to has a growth of just 1.4% while India could be at 7.2%."
Mr Gandhi is on a week-long tour to Washington DC, New York and San Francisco, and everywhere he has been talking about the BJP government, accusing it of dividing people on the basis of religion. He has blamed the BJP and RSS for centralising all resource allocation, and for alienating the Dalits and Muslims, also questioning the foreign policy and safety of Indians.
Mr Nadda however said the PM's policies have helped in the de-hyphenation between India and Pakistan. "Earlier, every global leader would talk about these two countries in the same breath. Now, no more. Today the country is safe and united," Mr Nadda said, adding PM Modi's governance has taken the country from vote bank politics to report card politics, from dynasty to democracy and meritocracy.
The book has prominent authors such as Ila Patnaik, Anant Vijay and Anirban Ganguly on the impact of PM Narendra Modi's governance on different aspects of life.