Former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated “for the political decisions they took”, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya claimed Monday. This assertion by the BJP’s IT cell head was made during a TV debate on the assassination attempt on the Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Trump was injured Saturday during an election meet in Pennsylvania when a shooter fired multiple shots at the rally venue.
“Before the Congress claims that their own leaders have got assassinated, I want to remind them that they were assassinated for political decisions that they took,” Malviya said during a news debate on India Today.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her bodyguards in 1984. Her son Rajiv was assassinated in a suicide bombing in 1991.
The BJP leader also alleged that Congress leaders, and particularly Rahul Gandhi, have been encouraging violence against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“…Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s convoy was stoned on several occasions. There have been very unpopular incidents that have been with both Indira and Rajiv; we condemn that but the progeny of the Gandhis (read, Rahul Gandhi) today, actually wishing death and assault on Prime Minister Modi. His rhetoric is very similar to what we are seeing in the United States,” Malviya said.
Malviya then drew parallels between the language used by the Democrats in the United States against Donald Trump and the Congress leaders targeting PM Modi.
“Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi has often encouraged and justified violence against Prime Minister Modi, who he has lost election to, several times now. How can India ever forget how Punjab Police, then under the Congress, deliberately compromised PM’s security, when his convoy was left stranded on a flyover,” Malviya had said on Sunday.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described Malviya’s statement as “atrocious”, “obnoxious”, and “disgraceful”.
“What an atrocious, obnoxious and disgraceful statement by this man. If the self-anointed non-biological PM has any shred of decency he should sack this guy right away,” Ramesh wrote on X.
Calling Malviya “BJP motormouth”, another Congress leader Pawan Khera asked if we need more proof of the “anti-national mindset of the BJP”.
“According to this BJP motormouth, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira, Rajiv ji, Sardar Beant Singh and the entire Congress leadership of Chhattisgarh deserved to be assassinated for the political decisions they took. Does the @PMOIndia endorse this view of his spokesperson? The only political decision these martyrs took was to live and die for India,” Khera posted on ‘X’.
“Buffoons of BJP will never understand that sentiment. Do we need more proof of the anti-national mindset of the BJP?” Khera added.
“Cheap politics should not be played on the issue of security of leaders. The Congress party lost Mahatma ji to Right Wing terrorists. We lost two prime ministers at the hands of terrorists. We lost our entire Chhattisgarh leadership to Left Wing terrorists, under the watch of the BJP government,” Khera had said Sunday.
Prime Minister Modi and the entire BJP has been instigating people against the leadership of the Congress party by “spreading vitriolic” lies against Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and the entire family, he alleged.
“He (Modi) also mysteriously withdrew their SPG security,” Khera said.
Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose also condemned the sentiment and accused the BJP of wanting to “murder the Constitution”.
The Rajya Sabha MP wrote on X, “A @BJP4India spokesperson has publicly justified and condoned the murders of India’s Prime Ministers. Dear Mr @AmitShah, you just announced Samvidhan Hatya Divas, (Constitution Murder Day) but your own spokesperson has openly committed samvidhan hatya in public by justifying the murders of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It is you and your party who want to murder the Constitution. #Samvidhan”
