Martyr's Son Called Mir Jafar, Yet No Cases: Priyanka Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Congress on Sunday put up a strident defence of its leader Rahul Gandhi over his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, holding a day-long '

Sankalp Satyagrah

' at Rajghat despite the Delhi Police's prohibitory orders, and asserted that the vindictive action was to silence Gandhi from speaking the truth.
Taking turns to accuse PM Narendra Modi and the governing BJP of running "scared" of Rahul's persistent questioning of Modi's "relationship" with Adani, and using the OBC card to deflect attention from the main issue,

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

said attempts were being made to "silence a martyr's son", while party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot asked which of the fugitives - Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Mehul Choksi - are OBCs.
"File a case against me and put me in jail too if you want, but the truth is that the PM of this country is a coward. He is an arrogant coward. He hides behind his power. But remember that there is a long tradition in our country that its people teach the arrogant king a lesson," Priyanka said, accusing BJP of being afraid of getting "exposed".
Defending her brother, Priyanka said, "You call my brother, the son of a martyr, a traitor and Mir Jafar. You insult his mother. Your chief minister says Rahul Gandhi doesn't know who his mother is. You insult my family every day. But no cases are filed."

"Your PM , in a Parliament full of people, says 'why doesn't this family use the name Nehru name'. He insults the whole family of Kashmiri Pandits, and the custom of a son carrying forward the family's name after the death of his father," she added. She also rubbished BJP's diatribe against Congress for indulging in "dynastic politics" by invoking Hinduism and Lord Ram.
"BJP talks of 'Pariwarvaad'. I want to ask who was Lord Ram? Was he Pariwarvaadi, or were Pandavas Pariwarvaadi? Should we be ashamed because my family fought for the country? My family has nurtured the democracy of this country with their blood," she added.
Kharge asserted that Rahul has been taking up the rights of common people in India and asked why the PM and BJP are panicking when he asks questions about fugitives and those defrauding the people.
Accusing the PM of using objectionable language against the Gandhi family and Congress, for which defamation cases should be filed against him, Kharge also accused Modi of equating Indian people with "dogs". He was referring to the PM's remarks during a 2013 interview where he was asked if he regretted the violence during the Godhra riots.
"In Ahmedabad, when thousands of people died, a journalist asked him if he was sad that so many people had died. He said he was not the driver, but while sitting in the passenger seat, if the car accidentally killed a dog, one feels sad. He called people dogs. And such a person is now talking about OBCs. Are Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Lalit Modi OBCs? They have looted the country's money and fled. These are fugitives. Why does it hurt you when we call them out," Kharge asked.
Gehlot also stepped in to counter the BJP's claim that Congress was anti-OBC. Asserting his own and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's OBC roots, Gehlot said he was the lone representative of the Mali Saini community in the Rajasthan assembly and also a three-time CM of the state, with the backing of the Gandhi family.
"In 2017, when the BJP was losing the Gujarat elections, Modi-ji played the OBC card against the Congress. Again, BJP wants to run a campaign to mislead the OBCs. But despite being the sole member of my community, I have been made CM thrice. Baghel-ji is also an OBC. What bigger message can there be for the OBC community? Who can claim to have done more for the OBC, SC and ST communities than the Congress since the time of Independence," Gehlot asked.
Party leader Shashi Tharoor said this Satyagraha was not just about the Congress or Rahul, but about Indian democracy.
"Is it good for our democracy when the principal opposition leader is not allowed to raise his voice in Parliament where we have a PM who speaks to the world about India as the mother of democracy? Is this good for our country," Tharoor asked.
Other senior Congress functionaries like K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh also took part in the protest while a large number of party workers gathered outside the venue despite the police refusing to grant permission for the "satyagraha". Police said due to law and order and traffic reasons and prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC imposed in and around Rajghat, the party's request was rejected.
Apart from the national capital, Congress workers also launched parallel 'Sankalp Satyagrah' programmes across cities with workers protesting against BJP action and courting arrest.