'Congress ki Ram Ram kar ke hi chhodenge': BJP hits back at Jairam Ramesh's 'unfit body' remark on Niti Aayog meet

NEW DELHI: BJP on Saturday slammed Jairam Ramesh for calling the NITI Aayog an "Ayogya" (unfit) body, saying such remarks will only create controversy and harm the Congress party itself.

Speaking to news agency PTI, BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said that, "This is a meeting of Team India to take decisions for the country's development. Jairam Ramesh is finding fault in this too."

"Jairam Ramesh Congress ki Ram Ram kar ke hi chhodenge (Jairam Ramesh will finish off the Congress)," he added.

These remarks came after the Congress leader called the NITI Aayog an "Ayogya" (unfit) body and criticised the Centre, claiming the meeting was "yet another exercise in hypocrisy and diversion."

In a post on X, Ramesh raised 6 questions about the Centre's development goals under the 'Viksit Bharat' mission, expressing doubts over the purpose of the NITI Aayog meeting.

He questioned the Centre’s development claims, asking "What kind of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) it would be if:

• Those in power themselves break social harmony with harmful words and actions.
• Institutions like Parliament, judiciary, universities, media, and constitutional bodies are undermined for political gain.
• India’s core values are attacked openly.
• Economic inequality grows while wealth stays with a few.
• The country's rich diversity is deliberately disrespected and erased.
• Not only freedom of speech is under threat but freedom after speech is also endangered."

The Congress leader made his remarks as Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 10th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog on Saturday. The meeting focused on the theme 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047'.

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Hussain called the NITI Aayog meeting a "Team India meeting" and criticised the Congress for opposing it.

"NITI Aayog is a big institution of the country. It makes policies for the country. In its meeting, eminent people, including chief ministers, are sitting together to make the country develop. The Congress has started objecting to it also," he added.


The BJP representative also took a swipe at leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's Kashmir visit, saying, "Bahut der kar di huzoor aate aate' (It took you a long time to visit)," he said.

"Recently, he went to Bihar to do politics at Ambedkar Hostel. Now, he is missing the people of Poonch and Uri," Hussain alleged.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi visited Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir to meet victims of cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops. He spent over an hour with the affected residents, including families who lost loved ones in the shelling that took place between May 7 and May 10.