Uttar Pradesh minister of state (independent charge) for horticulture Dinesh Pratap Singh on Wednesday launched a two-pronged attack against Congress MP and leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during his visit to his Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency.
He first staged a sit-in with dozens of supporters and BJP workers on the Lucknow-Prayagraj highway at Harchandpur, demanding an apology from Gandhi over the remarks made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother at a political event attended by the Congress MP in Bihar recently.
“Rahul Gandhi should say sorry to all mothers in India,” he said during the sit-in.
Later in the day, Singh, who was with the Congress earlier and joined the BJP in 2018, called Gandhi “chor ke nati” (grandchild of a thief) in reference to his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and pledged that he would defeat the Gandhis in Rae Bareli.
The minister’s comment was in reaction to Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the slogan ‘vote chor, gaddi chhod’ (vote thief, vacate your seat of power) is being proved across the country.
“The biggest thief was Indira Gandhi who was caught in Rae Bareli and the court had cancelled her election, but she refused to accept the mandate, neither obeyed the court. She imposed the Emergency. Chor ke nati (grandson of a thief), will you teach us now in Rae Bareli and will you call the PM a thief? No one speaks the language that you use,” Singh said, addressing the media.
Criticising the Rae Bareli police and administration, he wrote a letter to UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary.
“People showed anger against the language used for the PM’s mother but the Rae Bareli police misbehaved (with party workers) and snatched flags, mic. Our party workers were protesting on the roadside. I am hurt and I will take this matter to the PM and senior leaders,” he said after the protest.
“I take a pledge that I will defeat the Gandhi family in Rae Bareli. It is Rae Bareli where your grandmother had also lost and you (Rahul) will also meet the same fate,” he said to the media.
Asked about the hydrogen bomb (exposure) that the Congress claims it will bring in the near future against the BJP, Singh said, “Rahul Gandhi is a defused bomb, he will not be able to burst any bomb.”
Referring to a poster displayed in Rae Bareli showing Tejashwi Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav as deities, he said, “No religion says that those born from the womb of a mother can be God… One will go to Italy and the others to other places.”
Singh protested where the cavalcade of Rahul was passing through. However, the administration quickly managed the situation to allow Gandhi’s convoy to proceed.
CONGRESS QUESTIONS LANGUAGE USED BY MINISTER
The Congress has questioned the language used by minister of state (independent charge) for horticulture Dinesh Pratap Singh. “What kind of language did the minister use for senior leaders? In fact, no one should use such a language for any other human being, particularly women,” Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said.