Congress leader Pawan Khera
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Congress on Monday escalated its attack on the BJP-RSS over a former ABVP leader's controversial remarks targeting Rahul Gandhi, saying those who are losing the ideological battle and whose "theft" has been exposed are hatching a "conspiracy" to silence the Leader of Opposition.
The opposition party has flagged what it termed a "chilling and heinous" death threat to Rahul Gandhi by Printu Mahadev, a former state president of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said on Monday, "A BJP spokesperson said on TV that 'Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest' and no action has been taken."
"Before this CRPF wrote a letter to (Congress chief Mallikarjun) Kharge ji on Rahul Gandhi's safety and leaked it. So why is his security being politicised and such an environment being created," Khera said.
This stinks of a conspiracy, he said and asked who is hatching this conspiracy.
"They are the same people who are losing the ideological battle, who do not have the weapons of ideas to defeat counter ideas. This conspiracy has to be exposed. First you tried to silence Rahul Gandhi with abuses and now you are threatening him with bullets."
"You are not able to digest the fact that people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari are getting attracted to the issues raised by Gandhi. Your theft has been caught red handed, you know it now that your time has passed," Khera said in a video statement, referring to allegations of "vote chori" levelled by Gandhi against the BJP.
He asserted that the Congress will not allow such people to take recourse to violence.
The country is aware who is hatching the conspiracy and what it is, Khera asserted.
In his post on X, the Congress leader said, "Every time the RSS fails to defeat the ideology of India, their foot soldiers resort to physical violence. And a Godse kills Gandhi. Now, when BJP is losing the ideological battle, their spokespersons & leaders are threatening to kill Rahul Gandhi."
"A conspiracy is afoot to silence the voice of millions of poor, marginalised & weaker sections. There's a conspiracy to silence Rahul Gandhi," Khera said.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Sunday wrote to Shah over the former ABVP leader's controversial remarks targeting Gandhi during a televised debate, saying a failure to act against him swiftly will be judged as complicity and normalisation of violence against the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
Venugopal claimed Mahadev is a spokesperson of the BJP and made the remarks during a televised debate on a Malayalam channel.
"In a brazen act of incitement of violence, Mr Mahadev openly declared that 'Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest'. This is neither a slip of tongue, nor careless hyperbole. It is a cold, calculated and chilling death threat against the Leader of Opposition and one of India's foremost political leaders," Venugopal said.
"That such poisonous words are uttered by an official spokesperson of the ruling party not only places the life of Rahul Gandhi in immediate danger, but also undermines the Constitution, rule of law, and the basic security assurances owed to every citizen - let alone the Leader of Opposition," the Congress general secretary in-charge organisation said.
"It is now your responsibility to clarify what your party and the government stands for. Do you openly endorse the politics of criminal intimidation, death threats and violence that are poisoning India's public life," Venugopal had asked.
A death threat against Rahul Gandhi is not merely an attack on an individual but an assault on the democratic spirit he represents, Venugopal added. "This threat is not just a careless outburst of a petty functionary; it is symptomatic of a deliberately cultivated, toxic atmosphere of hate that renders the LoP vulnerable to mindless violence.
"As such, any failure by you to act swiftly, decisively and publicly will be judged as complicity -- a de facto licence for the legitimisation and normalisation of violence against the Leader of Opposition and a grave breach of your oath as the Union home minister," Venugopal had said.
The nation demands immediate, exemplary legal action through the state police so that justice is swift, visible and severe, he had said.