With his visit to the samadhi sthal of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee among other leaders, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is attempting to project an image that the party believes in inclusive politics and in respecting statesmen who contributed in nation building beyond party lines. However, this projection was marred by the disrespectful comments made by All India Congress Committee coordinator Gaurav Pandhi who attacked Vajpayee and RSS on the birth anniversary of the leader. He said the late BJP leader worked as a British informer during Quit India movement.
Media memory is remarkably short in India. Nothing surprising about Gaurav Pandhi, AICC Coordinator at the office of Congress president Kharge, slandering AB Vajpayee.
Sonia Gandhi had called Atal Ji a โgaddarโ at a rally in Indore in 1999.
Mr Pandhi is keeping tradition alive.โ Kanchan Gupta ๐ฎ๐ณ (@KanchanGupta) December 26, 2022
While the tweet was deleted later, the damage it did to Gandhiโs move of paying floral tributes to Vajpayee is difficult to undo. In fact, it led to discussions around how the Congress top leadership had carried an attitude of disdain and disrespect towards the statesmen and stalwarts of other parties and ideologies.
Senior Adviser, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Kanchan Gupta tweeted, โMedia memory is remarkably short in India. Nothing surprising about Gaurav Pandhi, AICC Coordinator at the office of Congress president Kharge, slandering AB Vajpayee. Sonia Gandhi had called Atal Ji a โgaddarโ at a rally in Indore in 1999. Pandhi is keeping tradition alive.โ
Media regurgitates every utterance of Rahul Gandhi without daring to โinterrogate powerโ.
Hence nobody asks him (when he waxes on Pakistan-China threat) why Congress and Sonia Gandhi opposed Pokhran II.
โReal strength lies in restraint, not in display of Shakti,โ Sonia had said.โ Kanchan Gupta ๐ฎ๐ณ (@KanchanGupta) December 26, 2022
He also posted an old video of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee where he read out the choicest insults hurled by Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party at him. Speaking on the floor of the house an emotional Vajpayee said: โI read their (indecipherable) speech, the BJP lead government has shown itself to be incompetent, insensitive, irresponsible and brazenly corrupt. In the field of politics you will have differences of opinion. But is this how you evaluate them? Is the language you use for them? It seems they sat down with a thesaurus to find the choicest insults to target this government.โ
Showing the brazenness and arrogance of Congress when it sits out of power, Vajpayee went on to say, โ(The speech says) it is a government that has betrayed the mandate of the people. People have voted for us and as long as people will, we will stay. Who are you judge that we have betrayed the mandate of the people?โ
โMedia claiming Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have always been โrespectfulโ towards AB Vajpayee is a sad joke, a PJ. When Atal Ji was PM, Sonia and her Congress would hurl the same dirt at him as they now hurl at PM Modi. She and her party were as viscerally vicious then as now,โ added Gupta.
Media claiming Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have always been โrespectfulโ towards AB Vajpayee is a sad joke, a PJ.
When Atal Ji was PM, Sonia and her Congress would hurl the same dirt at him as they now hurl at PM Modi.
She and her party were as viscerally vicious then as now.
Watch: pic.twitter.com/VXhzc8LtB4โ Kanchan Gupta ๐ฎ๐ณ (@KanchanGupta) December 26, 2022
On its part, the Congress has distanced itself form Pandhiโs comments. Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate Shrinate said, โRahul Gandhi has paid homage to all Prime Ministers who have made immense contribution in building India.โ
The Congress leader also explained that it was Vajpayee who reminded the then Gujarat Chief Minister and now Prime Minister Narednra Modi about Rajdharma in 2002.
Distancing from Pandhiโs now deleted tweet, she further said that the stand of Rahul Gandhi and party is same and if someone has made any remarks then it is his personal view.
The BJP has demanded that Congress should expel Pandhi from the party for his tweets on the former Prime Minister.
