Slamming the "Andolan Jivi" jibe, opposition Congress’ leader Rahul Gandhi said that those mocking the protestors are the ones who are selling the country’s assets to “corporate friends”.
Without naming the prime minister, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday wrote on twitter, “crony person is selling the country. Cronyism is the practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations”.
Gandhi seemingly wanted to make a point about the privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs) and public sector banks (PSBs), which were announced in the annual budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February.
Crony-जीवी है जो
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 10, 2021
देश बेच रहा है वो।#PSU_PSB_Sale
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was seeing a new entity emerge in this country- "Andolan Jivi". “This community can be spotted wherever there is a protest, be it agitation by lawyers, students, or labourers, sometimes at the forefront and sometimes from behind. They cannot live without protests. We have to identify such people and protect the nation from them. They are parasites", Modi said while replying to a motion of thanks on the president's address in the upper house of the parliament, the Rajya Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi is not the first to hit back at the prime minister for his remark. Former Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan also condemned the jibe.
