Union textiles minister Smriti Irani on Sunday attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi, party’s general secretary (east UP) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as the SP-BSP alliance.

Asserting that the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance would not click, she said, “The cycle (SP symbol) could not withstand the weight of the elephant (BSP symbol) riding it. The cycle tyre has deflated as a result.”

Irani was speaking at her first public meeting in Kanpur’s Shastri Nagar locality.

Taking on Priyanka Gandhi, she said some people had started calling themselves ‘Ganga maiya ki Beti’ now. The reference was to the Congress general secretary's recently concluded Ganga yatra from Prayagraj to Varanasi.

About Rahul Gandhi, she said, “People of Amethi have conveyed to the Congress president that he will not win this time.”

People were saying in unison ‘Bhaag Rahul Bhaag’, she said, after reports surfaced that Gandhi could also consider contesting from a seat in South India.

The minister also said the Congress had always questioned the Indian Army and some had even gone to the extent of calling the army chief a ‘goonda’.

People like Sam Pitroda asked for proof of air strikes on a terrorist camp in Pakistan, she said.

“It was the courage of the prime minister who gave Pakistan a befitting reply to the Pulwama attack. The irony is Congress had stopped the army from moving forward after 26/11,” she said.

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First Published: Mar 25, 2019 11:17 IST