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BJP leader's ‘bullet in chest’ remark on Rahul Gandhi on TV, Congress writes to Shah, alleges ‘chilling death threat’
KC Venugopal writes: “Mr Mahadev openly declared that ‘Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest’. This is neither a slip of the tongue, nor careless hyperbole."
After a BJP leader in Kerala remarked in a TV debate that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would be shot if he thought of a Bangladesh-like protest in India, the main opposition party has written to home minister Amit Shah demanding “immediate and exemplary” legal action against his party's representative.
Resharing the letter posted on X by party general secretary KC Venugopal, senior leader Kumari Selja pointed out that Rahul Gandhi's family lost two members— his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi, both ex-PMs — to assassinations. “In such circumstances, threats of this nature become even more serious,” she wrote.
There was no immediate reaction from Shah or the government as of 10 pm on Sunday.
In the debate on the local News18 local channel, BJP's Printu Mahadev spoke in Malayalam, a clip of which was shared by Venugopal. “In the popular protests in Bangladesh, the people were not with them (government) there. Here, in India, the people are with the Narendra Modi government. Therefore, if Rahul Gandhi sets out with such a desire or dream, a bullet will fall even on Rahul Gandhi's chest. Do not doubt it… Such a Gen-Z riot will not happen at all in great India. It will be suppressed and shots will be fired at you,” he said, as per speech translation by Google's AI tool.
Venugopal wrote in his letter: “In a brazen act of incitement of violence, Mr Mahadev openly declared that ‘Rahul Gandhi will be shot in the chest’. This is neither a slip of the tongue, nor careless hyperbole. It is a cold, calculated and chilling death threat against the Leader of the Opposition and one of India's foremost political leaders.”
He added, “The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), entrusted with the security of Shri Rahul Gandhi, has repeatedly written multiple letters regarding threats to his safety. Shockingly, one such letter addressed to the Congress President, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, was leaked to the media under mysterious circumstances, raising serious questions about the intention behind doing so. Against this backdrop, it is not only alarming but utterly reprehensible that a spokesperson of the BJP felt emboldened enough to issue a naked and open death threat that carries the stench of a larger, sinister conspiracy being cultivated to validate violence.”
He alleged that there have been multiple instances of death threats and calls for violence against Rahul Gandhi “propagated through various social media platforms backed or linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party”.
He asked Amit Shah to “clarify what your party and the government stands for”.
“This threat is not just a careless outburst of a petty functionary; it is symptomatic of a deliberately cultivated, toxic atmosphere of hate,” he further wrote, saying that failure to act swiftly “will be judged as complicity”.
“The nation demands immediate, exemplary legal action through the state police so that justice is swift, visible and severe,” Venugopal, MP from Alappuzha in Kerala, added.
The Congress is the leading opposition in Kerala, where the Left is in power and BJP has a small but growing presence.
Rahul Gandhi was a Lok Sabha member from Kerala between 2019 and 2024, but resigned from the Wayanad seat as he chose to keep the other seat he won, Rae Bareli in UP. His sister Priyanka Gandhi is now MP from Wayanad.
