TMC symbol row: BJP rejects Rahul Gandhi's 'party chori' charge, points to Congress history

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday hit back at Rahul Gandhi for accusing the ruling party of "government chori" and "party chori" over the TMC symbol row, and said the Congress leader should first look at the history of his own party to see how it "finished" opposition parties and "toppled" their governments when it was in power.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that the Congress toppled the governments led by Deve Gowda, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar and I K Gujaral by abruptly withdrawing support.

"Before levelling allegations against the BJP, Rahul Gandhi should first look at the history of his own party. If Rahul Gandhi does not know the history of his own party, he does not deserve to be leader of his own party, leave aside continuing as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha," he said.


Trivedi said the BJP is the only party in the country in which there has never been a "vertical division".

The BJP also stood firm to project the democratic values whenever the Congress attacked it, he added.

The Congress on Friday expressed firm support for the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC after the Election Commission froze the party's name and symbol amid the ongoing dispute between its two factions, with Rahul Gandhi saying that after "vote chori" and "government chori", now "party chori" was taking place.

Rallying behind the former West Bengal chief minister, Gandhi asserted that this fight isn't just Mamata Banerjee's but it is the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections.

His remarks came a day after the Election Commission on Thursday night directed rival factions of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) not to use the party name and symbol during the bypolls in West Bengal, and asked them to submit their preferred names and symbols.