Priyanka should explain Vadra's development model: BJP

Lucknow, April 25 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday launched a counter-offensive against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra following her sustained attacks on its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Accusing Priyanka of trying to shield her husband Robert Vadra by attacking Modi, senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said she should elaborate on Robert's development model before questioning the Gujarat model.

"The nation wants to know what magical model does Robert Vadra have so Rs.1 lakh becomes Rs.300 crore in less than three years," Prasad said at a press conference in the state capital.

He also accused Priyanka of jumping into this mud-slinging after her brother and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi failed to take on Modi.

At a time when investment in the country is going down, there needs to be some explaining on how Robert Vadra's companies are flourishing, the BJP leader said.

Prasad pointed out that Congress governments in Rajasthan and Haryana flouted all norms and bended backwards to accommodate and promote the business interests of Vadra. He also charged the Congress of victimising honest officials like Ashok Khemka.

Responding to a question on media reports that the Congress had come out with a sub-manifesto promising 4.5 percent quota to backward Muslims, Prasad said the move was politically unethical and unconstitutional.

"Interests of the Other Backward Classes would be compromised if such a move takes off," he said.

Prasad questioned the silence of leaders like Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on the contentious issue.