Bharatiya Janata Party President and Union Minister J.P. Nadda countered his Congress counterpart Mallikarjun Kharge’s allegations and said the latter is politically compelled to market a ‘failed product’, Rahul Gandhi. Nadda on Thursday countered allegations against party leaders in Kharge’s recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a three-page letter, Nadda charged Rahul Gandhi has a history of abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and OBCs, and of siding with anti-India forces. "Under what compulsion are you trying to justify Rahul Gandhi," Nadda asked.
Nadda charged Kharge's letter was driven by his political compulsion to market a "failed product" repeatedly rejected by people. Nadda told Kharge, "Your comments are far from truth. It appears from your letter that you have either forgotten the misdeeds of Gandhi and other leaders or have deliberately ignored them," PTI reported.
Hitting back at Kharge’s charges of BJP-led NDA leaders making violent comments against Gandhi, Nadda said the opposition leader had once spoken of people "beating up" Modi with baton, betraying his "disrespectful" mindset. Nadda added, “His mother Sonia Gandhi had once called Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, ‘maut ka saudagar’."
The BJP President charged Congress leaders in the last 10 years have abused Modi 110 times and accused the party of double standards. Nadda alleged no leader in the history of independent India was "insulted" as much as Modi was by Congress leaders.
Nadda alleged Gandhi has repeatedly insulted the Hindu sanatan culture, sought evidence of armed forces' bravery and used controversial remarks for Sikhs. Naming Congress leaders like Sam Pitroda, Shashi Tharoor, Digvijay Singh, P. Chidambaram, K. Suresh and Imran Masood, Nadda claimed that Congress leaders did everything to defame the country, PTI reported.
“Congress leaders instigated people and regions against each other and pro-Pakistan slogans were raised in their programmes. If anyone has defamed and insulted the Indian democracy the most, it is the Congress party,” Nadda alleged.
Kharge had on Tuesday raised with Modi the issue of "extremely objectionable" and violent statements by ruling alliance members targeting Gandhi and urged him to discipline his leaders.
In his letter, the Congress leader demanded that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens. “The world is shocked that a Union minister and a minister from Uttar Pradesh are calling Gandhi ‘number one terrorist’, while a Shiv Sena MLA announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh to the person who ‘cuts off the tongue of the Leader of the Opposition and brings it to him’,” Kharge wrote.