Rahul should resign: Patra on Sajjan Kumar's conviction

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Monday demanded Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress president for “sitting over justice for so many years” in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Patra was reacting to Congress leader Sajjan Kumar’s conviction by the Delhi High Court for his role in the riots. “Sajjan Kumar will be imprisoned for life, but Rahul Gandhi will be imprisoned in his own conscience. He should resign. He and his mother (Sonia Gandhi) were sitting over justice for so many years,” Patra told a news conference here.

“The BJP thanks the judiciary. The verdict is against the entire Congress party and not against just one individual,” Patra said. “And now, Rahul Gandhi has chosen Kamal Nath to head Madhya Pradesh. Nath’s name figures, with evidence, in the Nanavati Commission,” Patra claimed.

Patra also took potshots at Congress over the Supreme Court rejecting pleas for a probe into the Rafale deal. “They were politically-inclined litigations (PIL). Claims that there were faults in pricing, procurement process and that there was commercial favouritism were set aside,” he said.

The Congress, he remarked, was used to the “mama” culture. “There was a Christian mama (AgustaWestland case) and a Quattrocchi mama (Bofors case). Congress is used to middle. Rahul Gandhi’s lies on Rafale have been exposed,” Patra said.

Patra’s news conference was part of a blitz the saffron party held across 70 locations in India to hit back at the Congress on the Rafale issue.