Congress slams BJP panelist's 'Rahul Gandhi should be shot' remark; calls it 'cold, calculated and chilling death threat'

New Delhi: Congress on Sunday attacked the BJP for a TV panelist’s remarks that “Rahul Gandhi should be shot on his chest”, saying it should not be dismissed as a “careless outburst by a petty functionary” but a “deliberately cultivated” hatred that renders the Leader of Opposition vulnerable to mindless violence.

In a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said that “any failure to act swiftly, decisively and publicly will be judged as complicity” and a “de facto licence for the legitimisation and normalisation of violence against the LoP and a "grave breach” of his oath.

He said the country demands an exemplary legal action through the state police so that justice is “swift, visible and severe” while insisting that the remarks of Printu Mahadev, a former ABVP functionary who appears on Malayalam TV channels as a BJP media panelist, were “neither a slip of tongue nor careless hyperbole” but a “cold, calculated and chilling death threat”.

Posting the letter on 'X', he said disagreements in politics must be addressed politically, within the Constitutional framework but BJP leaders are giving death threats to their opponents on live TV.

He said Rahul’s fight against the RSS-BJP has “rattled them” but “such cold blooded threats against someone whose two family members have been martyred cannot be tolerated”.

Congress Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera referred to the leaking of a letter by CRPF to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Rahul's security claiming it “smacks of conspiracy” and said, “this is not just a one off threat to the life of Rahul...By politicising the sensitive issue of the security of a leader who has lost two members of his family to assassinations, this regime is playing with fire.”

In his letter, Venugopal said “poisonous words” uttered by a BJP spokesperson not only places the life of Rahul in immediate danger but also undermines the Constitution, rule of law, and the basic security assurances owed to every citizen, let alone the LoP.

He also said that the leakage of CRPF's letter raises "serious questions" about the intention of doing so.

“Against this backdrop, it is not only alarming but utterly reprehensible that a spokesperson of the BJP felt emboldened enough to issue a naked and open death threat that carries the stench of a larger, sinister conspiracy being cultivated to validate violence against Rahul Gandhi,” he said.

He also said there have been multiple instances of death threats and calls for violence against Rahul through various social media platforms "backed or linked" to the BJP.

“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,” he said.