Day after Rahul Bajaj spoke up, BJP and ministers hit back

While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that seeking an answer was better than “spreading one’s own impressions”, Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the fact that Bajaj could “express himself & instigate others to join” was “what democracy is all about”.

BJP IT-cell in-charge Amit Malviya tweeted a couple of news videos that show him purportedly praising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for interacting with industry bodies when the UPA was in power.

The day after Bajaj Group chairman Rahul Bajaj expressed concern over the lack of confidence among corporates to criticise the central government, several BJP ministers scrambled to respond to what one of them claimed were attempts to “weave fake narratives” over the remarks.

While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that seeking an answer was better than “spreading one’s own impressions”, Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the fact that Bajaj could “express himself & instigate others to join” was “what democracy is all about”.

Commerce and Rail Minister Piyush Goyal referred to Home Minister Amit Shah’s response to Bajaj’s remarks, that there was no need for any fear.

Bajaj’s remarks came Saturday in the presence of Shah, Sitharaman and Goyal at an event organised by The Economic Times in Mumbai, where the industrialist also expressed concern over the absence of effective action against lynchings, and the remark of Bhopal  MP Pragya Singh Thakur  praising Nathuram Godse in Parliament last week.