New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegation that the BJP and the Election Commission work together to split political parties, saying the Congress was the “real Bhasmasur” and accusing it of having a history of breaking parties and alliances.
"What Rahul Gandhi and Congress should be saying for themselves is what they are saying for the BJP. Congress party is the 'Bhasmasur' which burns to ashes every party that comes into contact with them. TMC had emerged out of the Congress party. NCP had emerged out of the Congress party. Congress is accusing us but they themselves had broken out of another party. So, it is the Congress that breaks and burns other parties. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, BJP has emerged as the world's largest party but that didn't happen by breaking any other party. We do not play dirty like the Congress," Rijiju said at a press conference in Delhi.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India, following the ECI's interim order to freeze the name and "Flowers and Grass" symbol of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), saying that "party theft" has joined vote and government theft as a defining mark of India's democratic decline.
In a post on X, Gandhi accused the BJP and ECI of acting in tandem to dismantle opposition forces.
"First Shiv Sena, then NCP, and now Trinamool Congress. Every time, the same pattern—BJP and the Election Commission join forces to split a party. Then its election symbol is snatched away. When an entire party can be stolen, it's hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too. Vote theft. Government theft. Now party theft—these have become symbols of our democratic decline," he said.
Further, the Lok Sabha LoP alleged that the ECI is actively failing its constitutional duty to protect voters and instead helping the BJP overturn election results.
"The ECI's constitutional responsibility is to protect the mandate—but instead, it's aiding those very forces that overturn the people's verdict. This fight isn't just Mamata Banerjee's. It's the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections," he said. (ANI)
“Congress is real Bhasmasur”: Kiren Rijiju hits back at Rahul Gandhi over ‘party theft’ charge
