Rahul’s swipe: Govt has shifted to ‘beta bachao’

New Delhi/Vadodara: Even as home minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that allegations against BJP president Amit Shah’s son have no basis and there was no need for any investigation, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is campaigning in Gujarat, lashed out saying the government had transitioned from “Beti Bachao” to “Beta Bachao”.

“Amazing transition from Beti Bachao to Beta Bachao,” Mr Gandhi tweeted, using the term “Shehzada” to describe Mr Shah’s son, Jay Amitbhai Shah.

The home minister, speaking on the sidelines of inaugurating the new headquarters of the National Investigation Agency here, said, “Such allegations have surfaced in the past too. They are levelled from time to time. It has no basis.”

Mr Gandhi’s swipe follows a report alleging that a firm owned by Mr Shah’s son first saw a huge rise in turnover after the party came to power.

The BJP has termed the report against Mr Shah’s son as “false, derogatory and defamatory”.

While several Union ministers have spoken out in support of Mr Shah’s son, over the last two days the Congress has held press conferences in all state capitals to highlight the issue and target the BJP’s top leadership, all the while exhorting the Prime Min-ister to speak up on the issue.

The Congress has also demanded the removal of Mr Shah as the  BJP’s national president and a time-bound inquiry by a Supreme Court judge.

Mr Gandhi is on a three-day visit to Gujarat for campaigning. This is his second phase of canvassing in the poll-bound state.

The Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti said on Tuesday that Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in December this year.

The Congress leader, who began his second day of “Navsarjan Yatra” from Vadodara by addressing students, has been aggressively targeting the BJP’s national president and the Prime Minister.

On Tuesday he also targeted the RSS and BJP, alleging they did not give any importance to women.

While asking how many women have been seen attending the sangh’s “shakhas”, he added that women work at every level in the Congress.

“The BJP’s thinking is that till women are silent they are good, when they start speaking up they try to shut them (women) up,” Mr Gandhi said at a gathering of students.

“Their organisation is the RSS. How many women are there in the RSS... Have you ever seen any woman in shakhas wearing shorts?” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“In the Congress you will see women at every level in the organisation,” he said.

Khakhi shorts were once the trademark dress of RSS volunteers, before they shifted to full pants over a year ago.