Congress Hits Back at BJP Over Foreign Protest Claims
New Delhi, October 23: The Congress has launched a strong counterattack against the BJP after the ruling party linked protests in India with the unrest in France. Party spokesperson Udit Raj said the BJP must place proof before the public.
Raj said the reported statement contained only possibilities and no concrete facts. He said that if such a possibility really existed, the Home Minister should explain what steps had been taken. He asked whether the government was engaged only in electioneering and what the NIA and RAW were doing to address the threat.
He said any conspiracy against the country must be stopped and that agents and instigators present within India should be tackled first. If the matter involved an international gang, he added, it should not be turned into a topic of media discussion. Raj questioned why BJP leaders were taking such sensitive matters to the press and described the issue as one for the intelligence agencies, which should work to cover and prevent it.
Raj also hit back at RSS leader Indresh Kumar, who had alleged foreign funding behind the protests. He said six to seven hundred RSS-linked organisations are registered in the United States and England, and that any probe into foreign money should begin with them.
He pointed to the RSS headquarters, which he said is worth around three hundred crore rupees, and demanded that its funds be investigated along with the regional RSS buildings. He also called for scrutiny of more than 290 BJP offices. Raj said the BJP and RSS were pointing fingers at others while facing their own questions.
In a separate reaction, Raj responded to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's remarks on the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. Birla had said the process was similar to that for removing the Chief Justice of India and that any impeachment motion brought by the opposition would be discussed under the rules.
Raj said the 2023 law on election commissioners was dangerous. He argued that it grants an immunity not available to anyone else, so that no action can be taken against an election commissioner, including Gyanesh Kumar, while he holds office. He said the government had passed the law using its majority in the Lok Sabha and was aware that removing a commissioner would not be possible unless political power changed hands and its seats declined.
Raj also commented on the removal of more than 70 photographs from Rehan Vadra's exhibition at Bikaner House. The management had said some pictures were against its policies and were political in nature. Raj rejected this, arguing that art and painting express truth and cannot be bound by policy. He said the government was acting under pressure from the BJP government and was now using policy as an excuse.