New Delhi: Hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s first speech as Leader of Opposition caused an uproar in Lok Sabha Monday, the BJP deputed two of its Union ministers and a senior parliamentarian to rebut the Rae Bareli MP’s claims, saying this is not the first time he and the Congress have “insulted Hindu society”.
“Today Rahul Gandhi has called the entire Hindu society violent and untruthful. He has insulted the Hindu society and this is not the first time, this is the old method of Congress. In 2010, the then home minister P. Chidambaram had called Hindus terrorists…,” Union Minister for Railways and Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a press conference in the Parliament premises.
While speaking in the Lok Sabha Monday, Rahul accused the BJP of spreading “violence, hatred and lies”, which, he said, were against the basic tenets of Hinduism advocated by Lord Shiva.
Flanked by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi, Vaishnaw said that in 2013, the then home minister Sushil Shinde had also called Hindus terrorists. “In 2021, Rahul ji had said that Hinduwadi should be taken out of the country and today he called the entire Hindu society violent and untruthful.”
Vaishnaw went on to say that through his utterances, Rahul has not only lowered the dignity of the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP), but has also weakened it. “He took politics to a level, which is condemnable. The whole country is saddened by this statement of Rahul Gandhi and no amount of condemnation of this statement is enough.”
He added that “calling Hindus violent, liars”, and holding up pictures of gods during a parliamentary debate lowers the level of debate, and it does not suit the LoP in any way.
Speaking at the press conference, Rijiju said they were expecting maturity, but were “pained” to hear Rahul’s speech. He further said that as LoP, Rahul did not suggest any solutions to the issues he raised, which is the job of a positive Opposition.
Rijiju added, “We have seen Rahul Gandhi from 2004 onwards. Back then, he was not a minister but received a chance to speak in the House. Today he has become the LoP and we were hoping that he will behave maturely. However, we are disappointed with the way he spoke in the House today. He was asked not to show his back towards the Speaker. He was even told about the rules, but he kept addressing his MPs while showing his back to the Speaker.”
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)