BJP slams Congress for giving peace prize to ex-UN body chief, claims she attacked India's sovereignty

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, calling it an "army of traitors" days after its Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi presented the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development to Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile and ex-chief of UN Human Rights.

BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also slammed the Congress over the presence of Jagdish Tytler at the event and asked Sonia Gandhi if she doesn't feel the pain of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The BJP's objection to the awardee stems from her remarks expressing concern over the lockdown in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, among other factors.

The prize for the year 2024 was presented by Gandhi to Bachelet at an event here on Wednesday.

Bhatia said, "The Congress' DNA is anti-India. It presented the award to Michelle Bachelet, who attacks India's sovereignty."

Speaking at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Bhatia said the “blood of traitors” runs in the veins of the “fake Gandhi family”.

“This is not Mahatma Gandhi's Congress. This is the Congress party that stands with anti-India forces and murderers," he alleged.

"The Congress is an army of traitors. They only want power for which they can cross all limits," he said.

The BJP spokesperson said Bachelet, the former UN Human Rights chief, had disfavoured the abrogation of Article 370, alleging human rights violations in Kashmir, and also raised objections to the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

"Don't Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi know the NRC was happening in Assam after the Supreme Court's order? Who is this woman (Bachelet) to say that this NRC will spread unrest if implemented?" he asked.

Bhatia also questioned whether Sonia Gandhi had the "right" to present the award to Bachelet, who "indulges in anti-India activities, insults the Indian Constitution, and our mandate”.

"Does Sonia Gandhi still not consider herself an Indian in the country that gave her respect? Is it not the violation of the oath of the Constitution that she has taken?" he charged.

Bhatia alleged that the presentation of the award indicates that for Gandhi, “her birthplace is still supreme, and not the Indian Constitution”.

"The religion she follows is everything for her," he said.