Nadda slams Rahul Gandhi for ‘derogatory’ reference to OBC community
A court in Gujarat’s Surat held the Congress lawmaker guilty of criminal defamation for a remark ahead of the 2019 national polls about the Modi surname
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda on Friday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his “derogatory” reference to Other Backward Class (OBC) community a day after a court in Gujarat’s Surat held the Congress lawmaker guilty of criminal defamation for a remark ahead of the 2019 national polls about the Modi surname.
Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed the case against Gandhi for allegedly defaming the Modi community at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in 2019. “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Gandhi was quoted to have said.
In a series of tweets, Nadda said Gandhi has lowered the political discourse and in the past also made slanderous comments. “By comparing OBC communities to thieves, Mr. @RahulGandhi has shown a pathetic and casteist mindset. However, his latest tirade is not surprising. For the last many years he has always reduced levels of political discourse...” he said.
Nadda called “lies, personal slander and negative politics” integral to Gandhi’s politics. He added the “cooked-up Rafale scam” was the core issue Gandhi raised through the pre-election season in 2019.
“Wherever he went he spoke of it. Mr. @RahulGandhi’s negative politics and cooked up Rafale scam faced a setback in the court of law. Our highest court of the land, the Honourable Supreme Court gave a very clear verdict on the Rafale issue and did not believe the corruption bogey Mr. Gandhi raised,” Nadda tweeted.
He referred to the Congress leader’s campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for which Gandhi had to apologise.
“Mr. @RahulGandhi’s acerbic Chowkidar Chor Hai remarks were also not appreciated by the Supreme Court and for that HE APOLOGIZED,” Nadda said. “In the run up to 2019 polls, @RahulGandhi kept repeating - Chowkidar Chor Hai notwithstanding the harm he was doing to political discourse. He went on ranting against PM @narendramodi even if it meant he was defeated in his own seat and his party wiped out nationally.”
Nadda said allegations against Modi did not find resonance and were not appreciated by Congress either. He said the Congress Working Committee took up the matter and senior leaders “even supposedly expressed their unhappiness on it.”
Nadda said despite getting flak in the courts, Gandhi refuses to apologise thus showing how deep-rooted his hatred for OBCs is. “ The people of India did not forgive him in 2019…in 2024, the punishment will be more severe,” Nadda said.
