'Immature, part-time politician': Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha remarks

New Delhi [India]: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday slammed Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, calling him an immature part-time politician who has provided no evidence for his recent claims. Addressing reporters here, Joshi said, "He is an immature part-time politician. He has not presented any evidence for what he said yesterday...The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry will decide this (on BJP moving a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi)."

Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi had questioned why industrialist Anil Ambani was not in jail, alleging that his name appeared in the Epstein-related files. He alleged that there was pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the India-US nuclear deal and "no PM would do what has happened in terms of "data, farmers, energy security and defence".

"I have said that I will authenticate the data I have. There are Department of Justice files on Epstein files naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani. In an ongoing case against Adani, summons have been issued. The government of India has not responded for the last 18 months. There is direct pressure on the Prime Minister. The main thing is that no PM would do this in a normal situation. In a normal situation, no PM would do what has happened in terms of data, farmers, energy security and defence. Someone would do this only when there is a certain grip on them," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.

Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju yesterday said that Bharatiya Janata Party members in Lok Sabha will give a privilege notice against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi "for misleading the House and also making baseless statements". He said Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has made baseless and false allegations against the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.