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Letters tussle intensifies as Priyanka Gandhi slams PM Modi over JP Nadda's reply to Mallikarjun Kharge
Mallikarjun Kharge wrote a letter to PM Modi raising the issue of “extremely objectionable” and violent statements by BJP against Rahul Gandhi.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of “disrespecting” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge by not responding to his letter himself, and instead sending an “inferior and aggressive” response by Baratiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda.
“In view of the unrestrained and violent statements made by some BJP leaders and ministers, concerned about the safety of the life of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji wrote a letter to the Prime Minister. If the Prime Minister had faith in democratic values, equal dialogue and respect for elders, he would have personally responded to this letter. Instead, he got an inferior and aggressive response written by Nadda ji and sent it,” Gandhi wrote in a post on X in Hindi.
“…What was the need to disrespect an 82-year-old senior leader?” she questioned.
According to Priyanka Gandhi, leaders in the highest government positions have “rejected great traditions of democracy".
“The tradition and culture of democracy is to ask questions and communicate. Even in religion, no one is above values like dignity and etiquette. There is a lot of poison in today's politics, the Prime Minister should have set a different example by keeping the dignity of his post. If he had respectfully replied to the letter of a senior colleague politician, his image and dignity would have increased in the eyes of the public,” she added.
Kharge's letter
On Tuesday, Kharge wrote a letter to Modi raising the issue of "extremely objectionable" and violent statements by the ruling alliance members targeting Rahul Gandhi, urging him to discipline his leaders. He also said phrases such as “number one terrorist” used by Union minister Ravneet Bittu and a former BJP MLA's death threat to Rahul Gandhi, were “deeply disturbing".
“Did Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi martyr themselves only to see such vitriol being spread in Indian politics?…Such threats against Rahul Gandhi were the work of BJP and its allies…It is with great sadness that I must note that the violent language used by politicians in your alliance spells great danger for our future,” Kharge wrote.
The Congress leader further appealed to Modi to “guide” his party and its allies and take strict action against such comments.
“I hope that you will kindly inculcate discipline and boundaries within the politicians in your bloc,” he said.
BJP's response
In response to Kharge's letter to Modi, JP Nadda cited his party's own litany of complaints against the LoP and other Congress members for their choice of words against the prime minister.
“Rahul Gandhi has a history of calling the entire Other Backward Classes, including Narendra Modi a thief, and use extremely indecent words against the prime minister. Under what compulsion are you trying to justify Rahul Gandhi?” the BJP leader said in a three-page letter written in Hindi.
He also claimed that Kharge's letter was driven by his political compulsion to market a “failed product” repeatedly rejected by people.
“You have written a letter to PM Modi in an attempt to polish your failed product, which has been repeatedly rejected by the public, and bring it to the market due to political compulsion. After reading that letter, I felt that the things said by you are far from reality…It seems that in the letter you have either forgotten the misdeeds of your leaders including Rahul Gandhi or have deliberately ignored them, so I felt that it is important to bring those things to your notice in detail,” Nadda wrote.
