Gurugram: Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala has triggered controversy with his remark that the people in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) are ‘rakshas’ (demons) and so are those supporting and voting for them.
Senior BJP leaders — right from Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan to Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and BJP IT cell incharge Amit Malviya — came out in unison to condemn Surjewala’s comment.
In Kaithal for the Jan Akrosh rally, Surjewala made the remark Sunday while he was highlighting the plight of unemployed youths in poll-bound Haryana.
“Unke bhavishye ko Manohar Khattar aur Dushyant Chautala lagatar mandi mein boli laga kar bech rahe hai. Is liye mein 17 km chal kar gaya. Us zalim ka darwaza khatkhtaney. Hamare betiyo aur beton ke liye. Vo kehte hain naukri chahe na do, mauka to do. (Manohar Khattar and Dushyant Chautala have been continuously bidding the future of youth through an open auction. For the future of our daughters and sons, I walked 17 km to knock at the doors of that tyrant), Surjewala said about 3.59 lakh unemployed youths who, he claimed, after clearing the Common Eligibility Test (CET) are not allowed to appear in the main exam.
On 20 July, the AICC general secretary along with party colleagues from Haryana, Kumari Selja and Kiran Choudhry, had taken part in a protest march to Khattar’s residence over the issue of unemployment and the terms and conditions of the CET.
“BJP, JJP wale rakshas hain rakshas. Bhajpa ko jo vote deta hai, samarthan deta hai, vo bhi rakshas pravriti ka hota jai. Main aaj Mahabharat ki dharti se unko shrap deta hun. (These BJP, JJP people are demons. Those who vote and support them are demon-like. I am cursing them today from the land of Mahabharat),” he added.
When ThePrint reached out to Surjewala for his comment, a person answered the call saying the Rajya Sabha MP was not available at the moment and added that he had already tweeted to clarify his stand.
भरा नही जो करुणा से,
जिसको जनजन से प्यार नही !
शासक नही वह असुर है,
जिसे किसान,-मजदूर-अबला-युवा से प्यार नही !!संवाद में भावना और भावुकता शब्दों से कहीं ज़्यादा महत्वपूर्ण है, जिसे कोई संवेदनशील व्यक्ति ही समझ सकता है।
जैसे कौरवों ने पांडवों के साथ छल करके उनके अधिकार छीने…
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 14, 2023
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Backlash from BJP ranks
In Fatehabad, Khattar condemned the statement saying that only a man born in “demons’ family” can use these words. “This kind of undignified language is unparliamentary too. We will definitely take cognizance of this,” Khattar told the media.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said though the Congress leader belongs to a political party that has a significant contribution in India’s freedom struggle, “but after that, they have gone into losses and now into irrelevance”.
“Such stupid statements make it clear that they (Congress) have decided to permanently remain as an opposition party,” he added.
In Bhopal, Chouhan remarked that conscience dies first when destruction befalls a man. “Is this the Congress whose leaders are saying people voting for BJP are demons? We have always considered people as our God and worshipped them. They are not only terming them demons but also cursing them. Do they consider themselves Gods? Is this your Mohabbat Ki Dukaan, Rahul ji and Sonia ji?” the Madhya Pradesh chief minister asked.
Amit Malviya, meanwhile, tweeted highlighting that Surjewala was chosen by none other than Rahul Gandhi.
भाजपा को वोट देने वालों को “राक्षस” कह रहे हैं राहुल गांधी के ख़ास सुरजेवाला। श्राप भी दे रहे हैं!
कांग्रेस, उसके आलाकमान और दरबारियों की इसी मानसिक स्थिति की वजह से पार्टी और उसके नेता जनाधार खो चुके हैं। लेकिन अभी तो इन्हें जनता के दरबार में और ज़लील होना है। pic.twitter.com/FXUYkBzomh
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 14, 2023
Later, Surjewala in his tweet posted in Hindi, asserted that emotions and sentiments are more important than words in any communication which only a sensitive person can understand.
“Just like the Kauravas tricked the Pandavas and snatched their rights, in the same way, the BJP-JJP government of Haryana is disqualifying the 3.59 lakh youth of Haryana from appearing in the written examinations for jobs after four years of passing CET…,” he tweeted.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘37.4% unemployment in Haryana’ — CMIE stands by report as Khattar, opposition bicker