New Delhi: Union I&B minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday strongly hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his strident attack on the Modi government.
Venkaiah Naidu said Rahul's talk of democracy and fundamental rights is like the "devil quoting scriptures".
"Every word said by (Rahul) him, suits them and reminds the nation of what they have done. He may not be knowing," Naidu said, reminding people of Emergency clamped by the Congress in 1975. "The Congress talking of democracy and fundamental rights is like the devil quoting scriptures."
Naidu told reporters that the country is vibrant and people from all walks of life feel they have a stake in the governance issues.
He claimed that the Congress Vice President's outburst at the CWC meeting today is a result of the party's frustration that even after showing readiness to strike "unnatural and unholy alliances", it could see no prospect of faring well in Uttar Pradesh or other states.
Naidu justified his ministry's order that Hindi news channel NDTV India be taken off for a day, saying that 21 channels were "banned" during the UPA regime.
Many of these channels were banned, he said, for airing "midnight masala" while the present action is with regard to giving details like ammunition depot etc during the Pathankot terror attack.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi, Naidu said he would like to remind him that the UPA government for the first time stipulated the norms of coverage of anti-terror operations.
Earlier, launching a scathing attack on the Modi government, Rahul said democracy is going through "one of its darkest hours" with the ruling dispensation "obsessed with power and seeking to silence" all those who disagree.
"It is ridiculous to say that PM Shri Modi is obsessed with power. The entire Nation knows who and which family is obsessed with power and for which the country was thrown into the dark days of Emergency," Naidu said.
He claimed that articles are written calling the Prime Minister names and yet the present regime has taken no action, while earlier people have been jailed even for drawing a cartoon.
Referring to Emergency, Naidu said that at time people from Jaiprakash Narayan to 12-year-old children were sent to jail. Many top BJP leaders too had opposed Emergency and gone to jail, Naidu said.
