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Lok Sabha elections 2019: Rahul Gandhi attacks EC, says forces not PM’s personal property
Rahul Gandhi’s reaction comes a day after PM Modi said that the surgical strikes conducted during the UPA tenure were only on paper.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral plank of nationalism on Saturday, saying the defence forces were not Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal property and criticising the saffron party for releasing Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar when an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999.
“The army, air force or navy are not the personal property of Narendra Modi. When he says that surgical strikes during the UPA [United Progressive Alliance] were done in video games then he is not insulting the Congress but the Indian army. We do not politicise the India army,” said Gandhi in Delhi.
The comment came a day after Modi said the surgical strikes conducted during the UPA tenure – the Congress has claimed there were six — were only on paper or in a video game.
Gandhi also said the Election Commission was on “the straight line” when it came to complaints from the BJP, but was “completely biased” when it came to Opposition complaints.
The EC cleared Modi of any wrongdoing in six cases of alleged poll code violation and BJP chief Amit Shah in two. Gandhi himself has been cleared in one case. The EC did not immediately respond to Gandhi’s charge.
The 48-year-old Congess president also criticised Modi for taking credit for the United Nations Security Council designating Masood Azhar a global terrorist earlier this week. “Who had sent him (Azhar) to Pakistan? He is being designated, but who sent him there in the first place? Did the Congress party do it? Who bowed in front of terrorism,” he asked.
On the question of contempt proceedings against him in the Supreme Court, Gandhi said he had apologised to the court for attributing his “Chowkidar Chor Hai” (The watchman is the thief) slogan to the top court.
He also attacked the government’s policies on institutions. “The working style of Modi, the ruling BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is to put pressure on institutions. This is evident everywhere — SC, EC, Planning Commission, RBI . That is their approach. We do not expect the EC will not be affected by that pressure. But the EC has to commit to its responsibility. All this institutional capture that is taking place and all the negative effects of it will have consequences. We are not going to allow Indian institutions to be disturbed, controlled, crushed and anybody who colludes, anybody who falls to this pressure, is committing a crime,” he said.
Responding to Gandhi, BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said the Congress chief was staring at “a political eclipse” and was showing false bravado. “The Congress and its life support system is fighting for its survival in this election. Their last bastion in Amethi is also crumbling,” said Rao.
