Amit Shah accuses Rahul Gandhi of ‘rubbing salt into 1984 victims’ wounds with INDIA bloc rally | Political Pulse News
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday accused Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi of “deliberately choosing” the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to hold its protest.
“In 1984, (former Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi made a statement that when a big tree falls, the ground shakes. Today, his son Rahul Gandhi has organised a major rally in Delhi on the very same day to rub salt into the wounds of the riot victims,” Shah said.
Shah said the BJP had initially assumed that Gandhi might not be aware of the date’s historical significance, given his age at the time and what Shah described as his lack of interest in history. However, he alleged that the Congress had persisted despite repeated appeals to reschedule the rally.
The Union Home Minister said the BJP had publicly urged the Congress to avoid November 1, 2 and 3, citing the sentiments of the Sikh community. “Thousands of Sikhs were burnt alive. Many were forced to leave their homes, children were orphaned, women widowed and houses burnt,” he said, adding that the country and Punjab would never forget the violence.
The INDIA bloc held the “Chalo Dilli” rally on Sunday as part of its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral irregularities. A day earlier, Opposition leaders held a symbolic “public impeachment” of the CEC, accusing him of facilitating the deletion of voters’ names and demanding legal action against him.
Invoking Rahul’s slogan of “mohabbat ki dukaan”, Shah said the Congress was offering hatred rather than affection by choosing the date for its rally.
“If the Congress wishes to hold a grand rally on the dark days of the massacre, then Rahulji, nothing except hatred can be taken away from your ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’,” he said.
Saying that the Narendra Modi government reopened cases related to 1984 riots after coming to power in 2014, Shah claimed, “India had never witnessed, and would never witness again, riots of such a nature instigated by a political party.”
Traders’ concerns
Shah also accused the Congress of disregarding the concerns of Delhi’s traders, who, he claimed, had repeatedly appealed to Rahul to postpone the rally as it coincided with the peak Diwali shopping season.
He said traders had written letters and held press conferences seeking a change of date, arguing that the rally could disrupt business during one of the most important trading periods of the year.
“Three to four times they held press conferences, wrote letters and pleaded, asking them to hold the rally after Diwali. But they insisted on holding it on the very day associated with the Sikh massacre,” he said.
Warning the Congress of electoral consequences, Shah said, “For the past three elections, you failed to open your account in Delhi. Remember my words, for the next three elections, your account is not going to open there either,” he said.
Shah also took a dig at Saturday’s “public impeachment” of the CEC. “If you want to become Prime Minister, remain in the ‘mock Parliament’ for your entire life. Your number is never going to come.”
The Union Home Minister also accused the Opposition of spreading misinformation, creating anarchy and disrupting parliamentary proceedings.
Nabin slams Rahul
BJP national president Nitin Nabin too lashed out at the Congress over the INDIA bloc’s rally. Addressing ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao padyatra’ in Haryana’s Rohtak, Nabin said, “The Congress should have sought atonement and offered an apology for the acts committed against the Sikh brethren. Instead, they have come out to stage a protest.”.
Nabin said as the Congress did not receive a mandate, they are “clearly feeling disappointed and frustrated and are blaming the constitutional institutions for this”.
Nabin dared the Congress leaders to “first put an end to the “rajtantra (monarchy)” centred around Rahul Gandhi” and establish democracy within their party.
