The BJP has strongly condemned Rahul Gandhi’s recent comments directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sparking a heated political debate over the legitimacy of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the nature of Indian democracy.
IMAGE: An aerial view of Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, capturing a massive crowd gathered for the INDIA bloc’s mega rally, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo
Key Points
- BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra criticised Rahul Gandhi’s remarks regarding Prime Minister Modi’s election on Sunday.
- Patra dismissed the INDIA bloc’s rally as a ‘chaotic, unruly spectacle’ and accused Gandhi of manufacturing ‘non-issues’.
- The BJP leader challenged Gandhi’s assertion that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were ‘illegal’, pointing out that CEC Gyanesh Kumar was not involved in those elections.
- Patra also slammed Gandhi’s ‘shop of love‘ remark, calling it an ‘encroachment’ given the Congress leader’s critical comments about Modi.
- The BJP asserted that India’s democracy allows anyone, including a ‘chaiwala’to become prime minister, contrasting it with dynastic politics.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday described the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) rally as a ‘chaotic, unruly spectacle’ and assailed Rahul Gandhi for his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election, saying the Congress leader was speaking like the ‘son of a Mughal emperor’.
“This Hindustan does not belong to your ‘abbujan‘ (father). It belongs to Hindustanis,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, hitting back at Gandhi for calling the 2024 Lok Sabha election results ‘illegal’.
Patra also called Gandhi an ‘illegal’ Leader of Opposition (LoP) for his 2024 election claims.
Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah at the opposition INDIA bloc’s ‘Vote Bachao, save the country‘ protest rally in the national capital on Sunday as part of its campaign against alleged electoral irregularities and for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
“Amit Shah said Narendra Modi is not going anywhere. I would tell you Narendra Modi cannot go anywhere even if he wants to go, we will not let him,” Gandhi said, warning that they will face legal action and should not think of escaping the law.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Patra said Prime Minister Modi will not go anywhere so long as Gandhi is there manufacturing ‘non-issues in his bid to create anarchy’.
“We are saying this with pride because he (Modi) has the blessing of 130 crore,” he added.
INDIA Bloc Rally: A ‘Chaotic Spectacle’
Patra sought to downplay the INDIA bloc’s show of strength at Ramlila Maidan, saying Congress leaders, including K C Venugopal, had claimed that 10 lakh people would participate in the INDIA bloc rally but only a ‘handful’ of them came.
The BJP MP claimed that the crowd shown at the Ramlila Maidan was ‘trick photography’ and took a jibe at Gandhi, saying no one can become the prime minister by tricks.
“Rahul Gandhi said it was ‘Shiv whose marriage procession‘. It was not Shiv whose marriage procession. It was a chaotic, unruly spectacle,” he said.
Questioning 2024 Election Claims
According to Patra, Gandhi declared the 2024 Lok Sabha elections ‘illegal’ and said neither Modi could have become the prime minister, nor Shah the home minister, had it not been so.
“This is the way children of a Mughal emperor speak. This Hindustan does not belong to your ‘abbujan‘. It belongs to Hindustanis,” the BJP leader said.
“Even a ‘it will shine‘ (tea seller) can become the prime minister here. And that is precisely what irks you: how ordinary people climbed the ladder of democracy to become prime minister and home minister, while dynasts who thought the country was their inheritance were left behind,” he added.
Patra said the Congress’ ‘vote chorus‘ allegation is nothing but a ‘bundle of lies’ and slammed Gandhi for targeting CEC Kumar.
“Rahul Gandhi is saying that the 2024 (Lok Sabha) election was illegal and Gyanesh Kumar must step down. Brother, Gyanesh ji was not there during the 2024 elections. He came later in 2025,” he said.
“And if the 2024 election was illegal, it means you are also an illegal Leader of the Opposition. All your members of Parliament are illegal,” the BJP leader said.
Patra said that Gandhi could have filed a complaint challenging the 2024 parliamentary polls if he believed it was illegal but he never did so.
“If an election is illegal, the fight does not happen at Ramlila Maidan. If an election is illegal, a handful of people are not gathered at Ramlila Maidan two and a half years later. If an election is illegal, you challenge it immediately,” he added.
‘Mohabbat Ki Dukan’ And ‘Shiv Ki Baraat’ Remarks
Patra also attacked Gandhi over his ‘love shop‘ (shop of love) remark, saying he keeps talking about opening such a shop but who knows when he will get a ‘licence’ for it.
“All the time they keep saying, ‘Modi is scared, Modi is like this, Modi is like that’, and hurl heaps of abuses on him. They even say ‘Modi your father will also come‘. If this is the ‘shop of love‘, then I feel this needs to be demolished,” the BJP leader said.
Such a ‘shop of love‘ is nothing but an ‘encroachment’, he added.
The BJP leader also took a swipe at Gandhi calling INDIA bloc rally ‘Shiv ki marriage procession‘ and ‘Tandav’, saying the Congress leader does not even understand their meaning but keeps repeating.
“Rahul jineither are you Shiv, nor those who want to drown India in anarchy are ‘Shiv ki marriage procession,” Patra said.
“After ruining people’s Diwali and Navratri, and hurting shopkeepers’ interests, you talk about ‘Shiv ki marriage procession‘?'” the BJP leader said.
“People will give a fitting reply. The results of the upcoming polls will make the Congress and INDI Alliance understand what ‘Tandav’ means,” he said.
Source: www.rediff.com
