BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Monday launched a sharp attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi during the party’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ march in Kolkata, accusing him of sympathising with forces creating unrest abroad.
“Instead of learning from his mistakes, Rahul Gandhi is acting as the toolkit of foreign forces. When I say this word, I say this because when there was unrest in Bangladesh, he was sympathetic towards the elements who were causing the unrest. When elements try to cause unrest in Nepal, he expresses sympathy to them. Rahul Gandhi and Congress are sympathetic towards all such elements,” Nabin said.
Continuing his attack, Nabin said the Congress was staring at political oblivion if it did not correct its course, and questioned internal democracy within the party.
“Even today, I urge Rahul Gandhi Ji to learn from his mistakes and shortcomings. Otherwise, a time may come when Congress will lose its relevance to such an extent that no one in the country will even remember its name. You speak about democracy, but I ask the Congress workers: does democracy truly exist within your own party? You invoke the Constitution- which Constitution? The Constitution that runs according to the Nehru-Gandhi family?” he said.
Nabin also accused the INDIA bloc of being led by anarchist forces and said Rahul Gandhi himself had once demanded freedom from Mamata Banerjee in Bengal.
“Those with an anarchic mindset, backed by anti-social elements, have now come forward, with Rahul Gandhi at their helm. Rahul Gandhi himself visited West Bengal and delivered lengthy speeches criticising Mamata Didi, calling for the people to free themselves from her leadership. Today, the people of Bengal have indeed moved on from Mamata Didi, and in Delhi, the call for freedom from Rahul Gandhi has also been fulfilled,” he added.
Highlighting the Centre’s welfare record, Nabin said the BJP’s electoral victories were built on development and poverty alleviation.
“We can proudly say that the fact that more than 25 crore people have risen above the poverty line today reflects the people’s trust in Narendra Modi Ji’s vision of development and the success of his welfare schemes. Now they ask how this transformed into results. Instead of removing poverty, you removed the poor. But Narendra Modi Ji has worked to lift people out of poverty and brought people out of the poverty line. That is why we won the election in 2019, and that is why we won in 2024,” he said.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, he added, “When it comes to safeguarding national security, Narendra Modi Ji stands firm as the Chowkidar of the nation. During a crisis like COVID-19, he leads as the Pradhan Sevak. This is Narendra Modi Ji’s leadership. Today, you are trying to spread anarchy across the country and undermine constitutional institutions. The people have rejected you, and if you had fought for their interests, they would not have turned away from you.”
The march was led by Nabin, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya as a counter to the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The BJP launched a counter-march in response to opposition protests against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The march witnessed large participation of BJP workers and supporters, with national flags prominently displayed throughout the procession.
The BJP’s march comes a day after Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a mega rally organised by the INDIA bloc at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, said that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would be removed from his post and jailed, while accusing him of facilitating alleged vote theft in the country.