New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday accused Rahul Gandhi of rubbing salt in the wounds of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots by organising an opposition INDIA bloc rally in Delhi on its anniversary and said this “foolish drama” will prove to be the final “nail in the coffin” of the Congress’ “political downfall”.
Speaking at an event in Chandigarh, Union home minister Amit Shah said the country will never forget that the Congress leader held a jalsa (celebration) on the anniversary of the “Sikh genocide” of 1984, and that if he wanted to become the prime minister, he should stay in a “mock parliament” his entire life.
The opposition INDIA bloc on Sunday held the ‘Chalo Dilli’ protest at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital as part of its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities.
To counter the opposition’s narrative, BJP national president Nitin Nabin led a ‘Loktantra Bachao, ArajaktaHatao’ march in Haryana’s Rohtak. Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan participated in a similar padyatra in Faridabad.
Referring to the INDIA bloc rally, Shah said, “If you desire to hold a ‘jalsa’ for the Congress party on such a dark day of genocide, then Rahul ji, no one will be able to take away anything except hatred from your ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’.”
He said the Congress has been losing elections for 15 years, and its leader Sonia Gandhi’s dream of her son becoming the prime minister remains unfulfilled.
“So, they have found a new way: conducting a mock parliament. I want to tell Rahul ji, if you want to become the prime minister, stay in the mock parliament your entire life. Your turn (as PM of India) is never going to come,” he said.
On Saturday, the opposition alliance carried out a symbolic “public impeachment” of CEC Kumar, accusing him of deleting votes to steal elections and demanding that he be tried in court for treason and jailed.
The meeting was held in a setting resembling Parliament proceedings at the lawns of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The BJP has described it as a “mockery” of Parliament.
Shah also lashed out at the INDIA bloc leaders for not paying heed to Delhi traders’ request to defer their rally until after Diwali.
Union minister J P Nadda also slammed the opposition’s rally as a “foolish drama” and accused Rahul Gandhi of “rubbing salt into the wounds of Sikhs” by holding the protest in Delhi on the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Nadda claimed that the protest was part of a well-thought-out conspiracy to surrender democracy to anarchy and disorder, and will prove to be the final “nail in the coffin” of Congress’ “political downfall.
“Removing the democratically elected government by conspiring to spread riots and anarchy in Delhi, adversely impacting the earnings of shopkeepers and traders in Delhi during the festive season and defaming the country are other objectives of the rally,” the senior BJP leader told reporters.
BJP chief Nitin Nabin said the main opposition party at the Centre, Congress, should have sought atonement over the anti-Sikh riots; instead, they came out to hold a rally in Delhi
“I always say that Rahul Gandhi is acting at the behest of foreign powers, like their toolkit to challenge the country’s democracy. The 140 crore people of the country are watching, and they know who these people are,” Nabin said in his address after leading the BJP’s march in Rohtak.
The BJP chief said people’s mandate is supreme in democracy.
“When they (Congress) get this people’s mandate in Himachal, when they win in Karnataka, then they say democracy has won, but when they lose in Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, then they say democracy is in danger.
“What kind of dual mentality do you have? This makes one thing clear: they want to run democracy according to the Gandhi family’s law, but democracy will run in accordance with the country’s constitution,” Nabin said.
Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi, party spokesperson Sambit Patra described the INDIA bloc 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,” Patra said, hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for calling the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls “illegal”.
Patra also asserted that Modi will not go anywhere so long as the Congress leader is there manufacturing “non-issues in his bid to create anarchy.”
Parallel to the INDIA bloc rally in Delhi, the BJP also took out a protest march in the national capital, seeking an apology from Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the anti-Sikh riots.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri led the march in which Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, her cabinet minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Supreme Court senior advocate H S Phoolka and many Sikh leaders participated. Delhi BJP chief Harsh Malhotra also participated in the march.
