Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday slammed Prime Minister NarendraModi’s remark the previous day terming Rajiv Gandhi, their late father and a former PM, as “corrupt No.1”, triggering a fresh war of words that sent the political mercury soaring a day ahead of the fifth phase of the LokSabha elections featuring, mostly, constituencies in the Hindi heartland.
The Gandhis found support in BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, who appealed to her supporters to back the Congress over the Centre’s ruling BharatiyaJatana Party (BJP) in Amethi and Rae Bareli, which go to the polls on Monday and from where Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are contesting. The Bsp-samajwadi Party alliance has not fielded candidates from the two seats.
Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi, who is incharge of the Congress in east UP, launched scathing attacks on Modi for his statement on Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by a suicide bomber of a Sri Lankan separatist group in Tamil Nadu in 1991.
“ModiJi, The battle is over. Your Karma awaits you. Projecting your inner beliefs about yourself onto my father won’t protect you. All my love and a huge hug,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted, a message that also brought back memories of the Congress leader hugging PM Modi in Parliament during a debate on a no-confidence motion against the government in July 2018.
Priyanka Gandhi reminded Modi that “the country never forgives deceit”, and tweeted: “A Prime Minister, who insults the martyrdom of soldiers by asking for votes in their names, insulted the martyrdom of a righteous and noble man in his unbridled eccentricity. Reply will be given by the people of Amethi for whom Rajiv Gandhi gave his life...” Rajiv Gandhi represented Amethi in the LokSabha.
The debate started after Modi, addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh on Saturday, said Rahul Gandhi, who alleges wrongdoing in the Rafale fighter jet deal and claims the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government benefitted only rich businessmen, was trying to tarnish his image. “Your father was termed Mr Clean by his courtiers, but his life ended as bhrastachari number 1 [corrupt number 1],” Modi said at the event.
The BJP justified the PM’S comment at a press conference on Sunday, with Union minister PrakashJavadekar referring to the Bofors deal of 1986, when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.
India entered a ~1,437-crore deal with Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm Howitzer guns but a Swedish radio channel claimed several Indian politicians and defence personnel took bribe from the company. In November 2018, the Supreme Court Friday dismissed a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against a Delhi high court order that in 2015 quashed charges against all people accused in the high-profile case.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said Modi’s remark against the Rajiv Gandhi was a display of his “frustration and desperation” after four rounds of polling in the sevenphase election process. “To use such a repulsive and appalling language against a former PM who received the Bharat Ratna [India’s highest civilian award] and a martyr who sacrificed his life for the cause of the nation is highly condemnable,” he said.
