New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) After Rahul Gandhi's swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek hain toh safe hain' slogan, the BJP hit back at the Congress leader on Monday, calling him “chota popat” which it claimed was coined by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray to mock him.
The party also slammed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his “poisonous snakes should be killed” barb, saying it shows the party's "Emergency mindset" which likens rivals to snakes and incites violence against them.
Earlier in the day, claiming a link between the BJP's slogan and the Dharavi redevelopment project being given to the Adani Group, Gandhi pulled out two posters from a safe he had brought to his press conference in Mumbai -- one featuring a picture of industrialist Gautam Adani and PM Modi along with the caption "Ek hain toh safe hain" and another showing a map of the project.
“It was a very low-level press conference, bringing a safe and creating drama around it. Holding this kind of press conference by the so-called top leader of the so-called national party does not suit Rahul Gandhi and the Congress,” BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said reacting to Gandhi's jibe.
“Today I say this from this platform and in Rahul Gandhi’s language that 'Chota popat ne kiya hei Congress ko chaupat' (he has ruined the Congress). His name is Rahul Gandhi," the BJP leader said.
"I saw an interview of Bal Thackeray where he referred to Rahul Gandhi as chota popat. From today onwards, Rahul Gandhi’s name is going to be ‘chota popat’. This name will now be on every child’s lips in Maharashtra,” he said.
In another dig at the opposition party, the BJP said on X that the Congress keeps anti-national elements safe, and if "we are together, then the Congress is unsafe".
"If the Congress is there, then terrorists, Pakistan, Rohingyas and Waqf are safe. If we are one, then the Congress is unsafe," it said.
Patra said the word “safe” in the slogan meant “safety, security and keeping people safe from ‘ghuspaithiya' (infiltrators)" but Gandhi took it as "tijori’ ( a chest or safe to keep money and valuables).
“A person's feelings shape their understanding. Those who have been breaking into ‘tijoris’ for generations, it’s obvious they will understand the meaning of the word safe as ‘tijori’,” he said.
“Grandfather, great-grandfather, grandmother, papa and mummy -- all of them have broken into ‘tijoris’,” he said, listing a number of alleged scams like coal scam and AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam which had hogged the headlines during the erstwhile regime of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre.
The BJP leader said people of the country get the opportunity to “laugh and have fun” when Gandhi speaks.
“Every morning … Rahul Gandhi gives meme material ahead of elections. There is no doubt about it. He gave ‘jalebi’ in Haryana, 'samosa' in Himachal Pradesh, gold from potatoes in Uttar Pradesh… Rahul Gandhi is our favourite,” he added.
The BJP also criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Addressing a rally in Sangli on the penultimate day before the campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly polls concluded, Kharge used the "killing the poisonous snake" analogy in his speech.
"If there is anything which is politically the most dangerous in India is the BJP and RSS. They are like poison. If a snake bites, the person (who is bitten) dies... such a poisonous snake should be killed," said Kharge.
Flaying Kharge over his remarks, Patra said, “The BJP condemns it”.
“It is the mindset of Emergency because of which you liken your rivals with snakes and incite violence by calling for killing them,” he said, asserting that Gandhi and the Congress will get a befitting reply from people on November 23, when election results in Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls will be declared.
Asked about the prevailing situation in Manipur, Patra refused to make any comment, saying, “We have to behave very maturely and I choose to remain silent than to say something and create controversy."
“Sensitive issues should never be politicised and we should not try to influence any kind of anger by our speeches, deeds or our comments. So it is better to be quiet than speak and flare anger,” he said when asked about the Congress attacking the BJP and PM Modi over Manipur violence.