BJP complains to EC against Rahul Gandhi, seeks derecognition of Congress

NEW DELHI: BJP on Sunday asked the Election Commission to de-recognise Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about RSS’ alleged role in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. This has already inspired Congress to upload on AICC’s website parts of a letter of India’s first home minister Sardar Patel seeking a ban on RSS after Gandhi’s assassination. AICC also dared the Sangh and BJP to sue Sardar Patel as well.

The first shot was fired by Rahul Gandhi last week when he said at a campaign speech in Thane that “RSS people killed Gandhiji and today their people and BJP talk of him... They opposed Sardar Patel and Gandhiji”. Soon, the RSS decided to initiate legal action against him and lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.

“Legal action will be initiated against Rahul Gandhi for his irresponsible utterances linking RSS with Gandhi's murder. Complaint will be filed with EC too,” RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said on social networking site twitter. On Thursday, Madhav filed the petition with EC.

AICC followed up by uploading on Saturday a statement on its website with the caption: ‘Will the RSS sue Sardar Patel as well?’ The AICC statement said, “If RSS has its way, they would file a defamation suit against Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. After all, the organisation is planning to sue Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for doing just one thing: echoing the views of Sardar Patel”. Then came the stinger.

“After Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a religious fanatic, Sardar Patel advocated a ban on the RSS, AICC statement said, adding, “the activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of the Government and State,” he (Patel) wrote in a letter, according to AICC. The AICC document further said, “Sardar Patel was firmly of the opinion that the communal poison spread by RSS was responsible for Mahatma's assassination. “As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji,” he (Patel) wrote in a letter, AICC said.

On Sunday,BJP petitioned Election Commission. It said, “(Rahul) Gandhi made certain false and baseless allegations against the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party & Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and also made communal utterances, inciting communal feelings amongst people of various communities”. It further said, “A bare reading of his (Rahul’s) statements makes it clear that they were aimed at putting absolutely false & baseless notions in the minds of the people that the BJP creates confrontation & enmity between Hindus & Muslims... and also that members of BJP & RSS were responsible for the killing of Sh. Mahatma Gandhi."