New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP Sambit Patra on Sunday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that if the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were illegal, as Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly alleged, then the legitimacy of the entire Congress Parliamentary team, including its MPs and Leader of Opposition, would also come under question.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Patra said that Rahul Gandhi was contradicting his own position by questioning the legitimacy of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections while continuing to hold the position of the Leader of Opposition and accepting the Parliamentary mandates secured by Congress candidates.
He challenged Rahul Gandhi to produce evidence that the Congress or any INDIA bloc constituent had approached the Supreme Court or another competent court to challenge the 2024 general elections as ‘illegal’.
“If the elections were illegal, then Rahul Gandhi himself would be an illegal Leader of Opposition, and all his MPs would also be illegal,” Patra said, adding that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and other elected representatives would similarly fall under the same logic.
He asked why the Opposition had not pursued its allegations through legal channels immediately after the elections instead of raising them at a rally nearly two-and-a-half years later.
Patra also ridiculed the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at the Ramlila Maidan, where Congress leaders had claimed that 10 lakh people would participate.
Presenting video footage and figures, the BJP MP said around 15 per cent of the ground was occupied by the stage and the D-enclosure, while another 40 per cent remained unused or concealed behind tents and view cutters.
Of the 28,000 chairs arranged across the remaining area, around 5,000 to 7,000 were vacant. The BJP MP therefore questioned how the Congress could claim a gathering of 10 lakh people.
Drawing a parallel with the Opposition’s allegations concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Patra accused Rahul Gandhi of relying on exaggerated numbers and misleading claims.
He said crowds could not be manufactured through selective camera angles and trick photography.
Taking aim at Congress’ dynastic politics, Patra asserted that India was not the hereditary property of any political family.
He said India’s democracy allowed even a tea seller to become Prime Minister, something he claimed the Gandhi family found difficult to accept.
Patra also criticized Rahul Gandhi’s language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning how someone who repeatedly makes derogatory remarks and personal attacks could claim to run a ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’.
He defended PM Modi’s record on housing, farmers’ welfare, sanitation and LPG connections, asserting that the Prime Minister enjoyed the blessings and support of 140 crore Indians.
–IANS
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