A day after senior Congress leader Tom Vadakkan joined the BJP, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 15 March, sought to brush aside the development, saying, "Vadakkan is not a big leader."
Speaking to the media in Chhattisgarh's Raipur, Gandhi said, "Vadakkan? No no... Vadakkan is not a big leader."
He went on to say, "The country has three issues. The most important issue is unemployment. Narendra Modi has failed. The second issue is corruption. Have you heard of Rafale? The PM has personally put Rs 30,000 crore in Anil Ambani's pocket. The CBI director was shunted at 1:30 am in the night..."
In a setback to the Congress, Vadakkan – former national spokesperson of Congress and believed to be a close aide of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi – joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Vadakkan slammed the Congress for its stand on the Balakot air strike carried out in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.
In an apparent attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Vadakkan said he had given the party two decades of his life but it has now resorted to a practice of "use and throw.”
Dynastic politics has reached its zenith in the Congress, he said, adding that he believed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development narrative.
On Thursday, the Congress had dismissed Vadakkan's criticism of the party, saying that till now he used to "abuse" PM Narendra Modi.
"Our best wishes to him," Congress' chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said when asked about Vadakkan joining the BJP.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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