A former ABVP Kerala president's heated remarks in a TV debate, that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi would get “a bullet in the chest” if he even “dreams of” a Bangladesh-like or Gen-Z protest in India, his party Congress has blamed the ruling BJP for the “death threat”.
Party leader KC Venugopal has written to home minister Amit Shah demanding “immediate and exemplary” legal action.
“This conspiracy has to be exposed. First you tried to silence Rahul Gandhi with abuses and now you are threatening him with bullets,” he wrote in the letter also posted by the official Congress handle and shared by many leaders.
The remarks were made by Printu Mahadev — he often appears on TV presenting the BJP's side — on News18 Kerala. He is a former chief of the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP's parent body RSS, but it was not immediately clear if he is a designated spokesperson of the party.
In the letter to Amit Shah, Venugopal said that "failure" to act swiftly against "BJP spokesperson" Printu Mahadev will be judged as "complicity and normalisation of violence" and "grave breach" of his oath as the home minister.
{{/usCountry}}In the letter to Amit Shah, Venugopal said that "failure" to act swiftly against "BJP spokesperson" Printu Mahadev will be judged as "complicity and normalisation of violence" and "grave breach" of his oath as the home minister.
{{/usCountry}}The letter also pointed out that Rahul Gandhi lost two family 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,” wrote senior party leader Kumari Selja in her post on X.
"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," said Venugopal in the letter.
“The nation demands immediate, exemplary legal action through the state police so that justice is swift, visible and severe,” the MP from Alappuzha in Kerala added.
The incident echoed also in Kerala, where the Congress is the main opposition party, the Left is in power, and the BJP is a minor player but gaining ground.
Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan, criticised the state government and police for not acting against Printu Mahadev. Referring to Mahadev as a “follower of Nathuram Godse", the Congress leader said: “They (the state government) have an agreement with the BJP.”
Rahul Gandhi was also a Lok Sabha member from Kerala between 2019 and 2024, but resigned from the Wayanad seat after winning again in 2024 as he chose to keep the other seat he won, Rae Bareli in UP. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is now MP from Wayanad.