BJP chief says Rahul Gandhi needs to remove Italian glasses to see development

Ahmedabad, Oct 2: BJP chief Amit Shah said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi needed to remove "Italian glasses" and wear "Gujarati glasses" to see the kind of development that had taken place under the BJP in Gujarat.

Addressing a gathering in Porbandar during the launch of the second phase of the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra (march for honour), Shah also took a jibe at Gandhi's recent US visit, terming it a "vacation". "The Congress is asking us what the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has given Gujarat in these three years. I want to remind them that the Modi government approved AIIMS for Gujarat, an international airport for Rajkot, approval to raise the height of the Narmada dam and allocation of homes to six lakh urban poor," Shah said in his address. "However, Rahul could not see any of this. He still asks what we have done in these three years.

Rahul can't see it because he is wearing Italian glasses. To be able to see the development, he needs to remove those spectacles and wear Gujarati glasses," Shah added. The BJP has often raised the issue of Congress president and Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi's Italian origins.

"The Congress is still dreaming about winning the polls. Everyone has the right to see dreams. But if you are dreaming about winning the polls, you cannot go for a vacation in the US. To win the polls, you need to do some hard work. You need to remain with the people of Gujarat for their development," he said. Shah added that the people of Gujarat were smart and would not vote for a party that had inflicted injustice on Gujarat for three generations.

The BJP president kicked off the first phase of the yatra, organised by the state unit of the party ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls due later this year, from Karamsad yesterday. The Karamsad yatra will travel through the districts of Central and North Gujarat. Today's yatra will pass through Saurashtra and South Gujarat. Both the yatras will run simultaneously.

While the Karmasad yatra will be led by Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, the Porbandar campaign will be fronted by state BJP president Jitu Vaghani. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah will participate in the concluding ceremony of the yatra. The venue is yet to be decided.

PTI