New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making a controversial statement on Hindus during his maiden speech as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
The Prime Minister took a dig at Rahul Gandhi over his remarks and said democracy has taught him to take democracy seriously.
‘‘Democracy and the Constitution have taught me that I need to take the Leader of Opposition seriously,” PM Modi said.
Lok Sabha witnessed an uproar over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks pertaining to the Hindu community with Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying that the Congress leader should apologise for his remarks.
Home Minister Amit Shah targeted Rahul Gandhi and said connecting violence with any religion is wrong.
‘‘The Leader of Opposition has categorically said that those who call themselves Hindu talk of violence and do violence. He doesn’t know that crores of people proudly call themselves Hindu. Connecting violence with any religion is wrong. He should apologise,” Amit Shah said.
Addressing the House, Rahul Gandhi had said: “Those who call themselves Hindu only talk about violence, hatred and untruth...”
Reacting strongly, Home Minister Amit Shah said that by saying that Hindus commit violence, lie and spread hatred, Rahul Gandhi has “insulted crores of Hindus” and he should apologise for making the comment.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that the proceedings of the Parliament are conducted on the basis of some rules and procedures besides also some healthy traditions.
“Whenever the President’s address is discussed, on the basis of what I have seen in my long parliamentary life, I can say that no other topic is discussed at that time. I would also like to request all the respected members of the opposition that whatever topic you want to discuss, you may discuss it but only after the motion of thanks to the President has been passed in the Parliament,” Rajnath Singh highlighted.
BJP National President J.P. Nadda, in a series of posts on X, severely criticised Rahul Gandhi, asserting that the Leader of the Opposition, now a five-time MP, has “not learnt Parliamentary norms” and neither “understands civility”.
“First day, worst show! Lies + Hindu hatred = Rahul Gandhi Ji in Parliament. Third Time Fail LoP has a knack for agitated, flawed logic. His speech today has shown that neither has he understood the mandate of 2024 (his third successive loss) nor does he have any humility,” said J.P. Nadda.
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare added: “This is the same person who was telling foreign diplomats that Hindus are terrorists. This intrinsic hate towards Hindus must stop... Time and again, he reduces the levels of discourse. His utterances towards the Chair today were in very poor taste. He owes an apology to the Chair for casting unsubstantiated aspersions on his integrity and personality.”
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused Rahul Gandhi of indulging in hypocrisy and said that his ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’ is now exposed.
“Sheer audacity of LoP Rahul Gandhi to call everyone who calls himself Hindu as ‘hinsak’/violent shows INC India’s hatred and contempt towards Hindus. Also consistent with Hindu hate of his INDI Alliance partners.”
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also said that Rahul Gandhi calling Hindus violent in the House is an insult to crores of Hindus.
“I strongly condemn such controversial and extremely shameful statement which violates the dignity of the Leader of the Opposition. Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the Hindu society for this,” he said.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju also strongly condemned Rahul Gandhi’s remarks.
“I condemn Rahul Gandhi Ji for terming Hindus as violent, hateful and untruthful community. He can’t insult Hindus without any reasons,” said Rijiju, who is also the Minister of Minority Affairs. (Agencies)
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