BJP attacks Rahul over his Mallya barb

BJP today lashed out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi after he raked up the Vijay Mallya issue and accused him of speaking lies and making baseless allegations to divert attention from the Samajwadi Party government's failures in Uttar Pradesh as he has struck a "deal" with it.

The party said Mallya had turned a defaulter during the UPA government but it had still asked the banks to give him more loans as Congress, it alleged, received commission from him.

"Rahul Gandhi is a lying machine. He will do well to remember that Mallya turned a defaulter during the government of Sonia Gandhi and still received more loans from it because Congress got commission. Mallya is a baby of Congress. It is shameful that he is blaming the current government for the sins of his government," its national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

With Gandhi raising the issue of farmers, Sharma alleged that Congress did politics in their name but swindled money from schemes aimed at their welfare. "They did corruption in MNREGA, irrigation schemes and what not."

He said Gandhi should have discussed the problems facing farmers in UP due to the policies of the Samajwadi Party government and spoken about how women are not safe in the state and people not getting basic facilities like electricity, water and roads.

"He has struck a deal with the SP and BSP. He does not want SP's failures to be discussed and that is why he is levelling false and baseless allegations against the Modi government," he said.

In a dig at the central government, Gandhi said during his campaign in UP, "If a farmer takes away a cot, he is called a 'chor' (thief) but people like Mallyaji who run away with crores are called 'defaulters'!".