Senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Thursday said Rahul Gandhi is a "man without a mission" and he does not have the qualifications to become the Prime Minister. "Not at all. What gives him the qualification to be leading this country upfront," Patel said while speaking to ANI's Smita Prakash when asked whether Gandhi had in him to become the Prime Minister.
"He (Rahul Gandhi) has no agenda, his only agenda is bashing Modi and some industrialists or finding faults with something," said the NCP leader, who was Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Civil Aviation in the Manmohan Singh government.
Patel said a leader has to spell out a vision for this country and can't just come on a stage and say - "I don't like you." He called the talks of caste census and wealth redistribution 'rubbish'.
"All this kind of rubbish he talks about...caste census, equal distribution of wealth, redistribution - from where these things have come. Are we wanting to go back to some Marxist-Leninist country? This country has disowned the communists by now, this country has moved way forward," he said.
Gandhi has promised to conduct a caste census countrywide. During a public address in Hyderabad, he recently said he would, if elected, also conduct financial and institutional surveys to know who holds the country's wealth. Days after his speech, Congress Overseach Chairman Sam Pitroda proposed a 55 per cent wealth tax, which got massive pushback.
Praful Patel said even the socialist agenda set out by the Congress is now being thrown out by the people of India. "Because this is an inspirational India, people want to grow, and they want to make their future. And here, you are talking about taking away - 'you build something, I will take and give it away. What kind of agenda is this?" the former union minister asked.
The NCP leader said Gandhi is a "man without mission" and he is just going around trying to lambast PM Modi. "Everybody can find fault with somebody here and there, but I must have a remedy for that - remedy is not there. What has Rahul Gandhi offered? Has he ever made sensible comment in the last 20 years of his public life?"
Patel also spoke about Gandhi's repeated attack on Adani and Ambani and said chief ministers and prime ministers always meet industrialists in the interest of the economy and industrialisation of the country. The former minister also cited an example when he persuaded Adani to invest in Maharashtra.
"Adani, at my request, set up a power plant of Rs 15,000 crore in my constituency, which is the largest power plant in Maharashtra. Modi was not Prime Minister then, he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. It was set up in Maharashtra," Patel said, adding that it created jobs and had a multiplier effect on the economy of Maharashtra.
The power plant was set up when the NCP was part of the central government in Delhi. But Patel said that then environment minister Jairam Ramesh did everything to derail that project. "Congress did nothing. In fact, Jairam Ramesh as the environment minister did everything possible under his control to derail the project. He cancelled the mines, he tried to cancel the environmental clearances. But still, Adani pursued, because I and (Sharad) Pawar were supportive in the interest of industrialisation of Maharashtra."
"What is Mr Adani's interest in my constituency, because we took him there. We wanted industrialisation. Can they (Congress) come and say Mr Modi did anything wrong to give Adani power project in Maharashtra," the NCP leader said.
Patel also reminded that Adani got the Mundra port in Gujarat during the days of Chimanbhai Patel, a Congress chief minister. He also said that Ambani came in the era of 1970-80s during the days of Indira and Rajeev Gandhi. "He (Ambani) had well-wishers in many people like Pranab Mukherjee."
Praful Patel is with the breakaway faction of the NCP headed by Ajit Pawar. Ajit Pawar-led NCP is now part of the NDA in Maharashtra.