Declare Selja as CM candidate if party not 'anti-Dalit': Smriti targets Congress

BJP leader and former Union Minister Smriti Irani targeted the Congress on Monday, ahead of the Assembly elections on October 5, and termed it as “anti-Dalit, anti-farmer and corrupt”.

Addressing a press conference in Rohtak on Monday, Smriti questioned, “If the Congress is pro-Dalit, then why does it not declare Selja as its chief ministerial candidate?”

Commenting on the hand-shake between former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former Union Minister Kumari Selja in presence of Rahul Gandhi, the BJP leader quipped that it was a hand-shake of compulsion, adding that “hearts cannot meet, by shaking hands for a photograph.”

“Only the hands met, did the hearts meet too?” she questioned.

Smriti also targeted Congress leader Robert Vadra, stating that he has an unbreakable relationship with Gautam Adani.

“If Adani is so corrupt, then why are the members of the Gandhi family roaming around with him?” she questioned.

Regarding Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement on PM Modi, the BJP leader said she does not expect good values from the Congress.

“While PM Modi asked about the health of the Congress president despite their political differences, Kharge's comment did not surprise me. The Congress party is anti-Dalit, and hence it does not respect PM Modi who comes from a backward class,” said Smriti.

The former Union Minister claimed that the BJP government had carried out a lot of development in Haryana.

“More than 1.20 crore people have been provided Ayushman cards in the state,” she said, adding that so far, nearly 82,000 residents of Haryana have received the benefit of Ayushman Bharat Yojana.