Rahul made millions illegally: BJP

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that Congress President Rahul Gandhi has earned crores of rupees through illegal means.

“Rahul is not a professional and his only income is through his salary as an MP. But his assets have increased many times,” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra told reporters, here on Sunday.

The BJP leader, nominated by the BJP to contest Lok Sabha polls from the Puri constituency in Odisha, claimed Rahul had Rs55,83,123 assets in 2004, which increased to over Rs2 crore in 2009 and Rs9 crore in 2014.

These earnings, Patra alleged was made through irregularities in land deals and kickbacks in arms deals.

The Gandhi family had no earnings but owned a farm house, he added.

“This family does not do anything, but still manage to collect crores of rupees. We will soon reveal this. In the election affidavit, Rahul Rahul has mentioned he gets Rs9 lakh as rent from Indira Gandhi farmhouse in Mehrauli, but in reality he gets crores,” Patra said.

People this time would keep a close watch when Rahul will file his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls, he added.

Meanwhile, claiming Congress leaders were “staring” at defeat in the elections due to their party’s dynastic character, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday asked if the party workers were getting frustrated due to their chief Rahul Gandhi’s perceived shortcomings.

He also asked if the “Dunning-Kruger effect” -- a type of illusory superiority or tendency for incompetent people to self-assess their competence too highly -- was the reason for Gandhi “to cross the line of decency and dignity” while referring to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Dynastic parties have one major drawback. If the current generation of the party is competent, charismatic and enjoys popular confidence, the dynast can pull-off major victories. There is an incentive in the party to rally behind him.

“However, if the current generation dynast is lacking in charisma, understanding and popular confidence, the crowd around the family gets increasingly frustrated. Is the Congress Party witnessing that?” the senior BJP leader asked in a Facebook post.

Indo-Asian News Service